THE WOOL SALES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26354, 8 January 1947, Page 4

THE WOOL SALES

The decision to postpone the next three wool auctions, which were scheduled to take place at Auckland, Wanganui, and Napier, has been forced on the Woolbrokers’ Association by the present conditions on the New Zealand waterfront. The North Island stores are full to capacity, and until the wool already sold can be lifted no further clips will be accepted. Provided that shipping and labour becomes available the postponement of the auctions for three weeks should enable the accumulations, in the northern centres to be cleared, and no serious consequences for the growers should ensue. The only inconvenience is that those farmers with wool in store will have to wait a little longer to learn the exact price their clips will fetch, while others, who have shorn later or have held their wool for later sales, will be required to store their clips until accommodation' in the .central stores is available. The, prices realised at the Wdllingtoh sale indicated that values are likely to remain steady for some time yet, and there seems little possibility of any serious retrogression in prices at least until the demands of the world’s'mills have been satisfied. It is at a time like the present that the steadying influence of the Joint Organisation’s activities can be appreciated at their full value. The floor prices the Organisation has quoted have provided sheep farmers with a fair indication of the potential value of their offerings, and the minimum return that can be expected. There has thus been eliminated much of the apprehension that the loss of a sale on the scheduled date might, in former years, have raised in the minds of the growers., As far as the situation locally is concerned there has as yet been no suggestion of any postponement. The later season in the south, the difficulty of obtaining shearers, and the delays imposed on shearing operations by the recent unfavourable weather in the country, are all factors that have contributed to the slower, though regular, arrival of clips. The tardy clearing of wool from the city stores has therefore been fortuitously counterbalanced by delays at the source of production which, vexatious though they might have been to the farmer, have nevertheless assisted to overcome an embarrassment of supplies at the poi't. It is impossible at this juncture to foretell how future developments on the waterfront may affect the position, but in view of the possibility of further delays in the loading of overseas vessels farmers would be advised to assure themselves that adequate arrangements exist for the reception of their wool before they | despatch it to the stores.