WELLINGTON WOOL SALES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15032, 4 January 1911, Page 6

WELLINGTON WOOL SALES

DECLINE IN VALUES.

(Pun United Press Association.) f WELLINGTON, January 3. The third wool sale of the season, which took place at the Town Hall today. saw a decline in values, owing principally to weaker competition from oversea, buyers, especially from the Continental section of the trade. The decline was general, except in the .higher qualities, but it wa_s more pronounced in oddments and pieces. The coarse wools showing Lincoln quality realised relatively the best prices on the whole. In comparing values it has to be remembered that the bulk of the wool offered was of coarser I'iiality tnan thai offered at the previous sales ol this season, and there was a large proportion of inferior wool, backcountry clips, dingy, log-stained, and seedy. There were very few lines of superior wool, and in some cases these realised up to equal value with similar wool sold earlier in the season. The decline in value hardly affected the best wool, but it was about lower oil medium and coarse crossbreds, and Id on pieces, etc. Competition was keen and brisk for the greater part of the sale. Continental and, in lesser degree, Bradford buyers were, however, palpably not operating with the same freedom as at last sale. .In a few cases good, nrices were given- for specially good lines. For ; instance, the two top lines of the Parorangl clip of E. Short, 62 bales in all, were sold at lid for Boston. The great bulk of the lower qualities in this line were passed in at the sale, but were subsequently disposed of, a good percentage, going to Bradford. The cotted and dingy wool realised up to 9Jd. Another good line in the - Dalgety catalogue, a very fine light-conditioned crossbred, realised for Roubaix A particularly light-conditioned PeJorus halfbred in the Murray-Roberta catalogue made Is, being taken up by the Mosgiel Woollen Company. The top. price for lambs' wool, l&gd, • was given bv a Roubaix buyer. The bulk of the'locks (which realised from to ■ were purchased for Belgium, whence the carbonising process for the elimination of bid-a-bid has been so well perfected. The state ofUhe market in the opinion of Continental operators is thus described: Practically ho alteration in halfbreds, 5 per cent, decline in other fleece wools, and 10 per cent, decline on pieces. Business was. considerably restricted owing to high reserves in many cases. The ideas of prices entertained by growers were considerably beyond the actual market value at times. _ This had a dispiriting effect on operations. In some of the catalogues fully 40 per cent, of the offerings were not sold. Taking the whole of the catalogues, nearly 30 per cent, of the wool offered was passed in. Lines which declined most of all were the " piece" wool. Tile fall was equal in some cases to a full Id, but .still the prices realised were good compared with' the value ruling for fleece wool. Visiting brokers spoke well of the improved manner in which wool is being displayed at this centre by brokers, but complaint is made of the small scattered stores, generally poorly lighted, which have still to be employed, and, the, hope is expressed that further proper wool-storage space will 'be provided. Great satisfaction was expressed with the interlotting of star lines, as it enables larger operators to compete for wool which they otherwise would not •trouble about. Complaint was agf|in heard of the absence of skirting and the failure of growers , to. present the wool for sale in a satisfactory manner. One buyer atone reckoned lie might have .been able' to secure-1500 more bales for America had the wool_ been 6lrirted. Fault was also found with some of the sorting. The wool had been 'skirted all right, but Romney was baled with Lincoln, a variation in quality which anyone of ordinary intelligence could have detected. Careful skirting with separate baling of distinctly varying qualities is all that is required with , the ordinary farmer's clip. The 'sale was largely attended by growei-s. The event is naturally of great importance to primary producers, seeing that the wool offered represented a money value of over £300,000, 22,78? bales being offered.