SOUTH AFRICAN WOOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24432, 18 October 1940, Page 2

SOUTH AFRICAN WOOL

> WITH BRITAIN BRADFORD NOT SURPRISED (From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON. Sept. 9. No surprise was caused at Bradford when it was announced that the British Government had agreed to buy the whole of the South African wool clip for the duration of the war and one clip after the war, says the Textile Mercury and Argus. This puts South Africa on the same footing as Australia and New Zealand. It is a logical development of the conditions which have developed since the outbreak of war. Last season the British Government agreed to support the Cape Market, if necessary, so as to ensure that the Cape grower would get a price at least equivalent to the price naid to the Australian and New Zealand grower and the Cape wool authorities had expressed their willingness to enter into a similar arrange-' ment for the coming season.

It is obvious that supplies of merino wool during the remainder of the war period will be in excess of machinery requirements because so large a part of the wool textile industry of the world is not able to buy either in Australia or South Africa. It is a better plan to buy the clip outright at a fixed price than to have to be constantly supporting an open market in which the demand is not sufficient to absorb the offerings. The British Government would have had to buy the greater part of the clip in any event, and a clean-cut transaction is a more logical way of dealing with the situation than an arrangement such as that which operated last season. A Merino Wool Monopoly ,

Nearly the whole of the world’s exportable supplies of merino wool come from Australia and South Africa. There is a comparatively small shipment from South America, but the bulk of the B.A. clip is crossbred. The United States produce large weights of fine wool, but it is all for home consumption.

The merino production in Australia last season reached somewhere near 1.000. while the average Cape clip in recent seasons has been about 250.000. The record production was 319.000,0001 b in 1932-33. The transactions of the British Government mean that next season Britain will acquire something like 1.250.000. of fine wool, and will have a virtual world monopoly. In addition, of course, there is the purchase of the New Zealand crossbred clip, plus appreciable purchases of crossbred wool in South America and of low wools from India. The sterling purchase price of the Cape clip is 10i[d, and this is in line with the price paid to the Australian growers. Export Trade Maintained

The official figures with regard to export trade in woollen and worsted fabrics become more and more impressive month by month. It is a striking fact that in spite of the loss of Continental markets and the efforts of the enemy to interfere with British shipping, there is an actual increase in value and in volume of Britain’s overseas trade in woollen goods. The July total for woollen and worsted yarns and manufactures was £2.265,319, as compared with £2,150,000 in June and £2,709,000 in May. As it is well known that there has been a sharp decline in exports of tops and yarns in these months, owing to the closing of the Continental markets, it can safely be assumed that there has been no falling off in the exports of fabrics. There was, in fact, an increase in the quantity of exports of woollen and worsted fabrics up to the end of June, and the July figures are quite up to the June level. This is “good going” for British exporters, and it is a convincing confirmation of the fact that “ Britain delivers the goods.” Britain’s exports of woollen and worsted yarns and manufactures for the first seven months of the year have reached the handsome total of £19,320,769. as compared with £16,421,438 in the first seven months of last year, and £15,621,955 in 1938.