LONDON WOOL SALES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2505, 26 March 1902, Page 9

LONDON WOOL SALES.

(Fbom JOjSb. Special Gorhes?oxdeKt.) LONDON, January 24. OPENING OF THE FIRST SERIES. . BOTH MERINOS AND CROSSBREDS MAKE A SENSD3LE RISE. j To colonial woolgrowers this series is pregnant with results and issues which, j to say the least, will be farreaching, deciding, in a large measure, the career for a fair weight of their last shearing. Everyone left Bradford in good spirits, feeling that some lively times ( •were in store, the course of markets during the interval being all that could be desired. J (t is really surprising what a changed aspect has come over the wool situation since we last assembled in Coleman street Woo! Exchange ; and this series brgan with prospects at the very "antipodes to wnat the last series began, the outlook to-day being good throughout the entire market. Not within the memory of any living "man has such a. big selling and buying movement taken place just on the close cf the year as what took place a week before la=t Christmas, and tins lit has continued more or less up to the present. The fact of the matter is stoc':s of raw wool in the hands of Bradford topmakers are very light, and consumption keeping up, inaloes it impeiatixe for users to buy. It is a long time since a year opened with consuming markets so bare of fin a ma- ( ierial, especially as they are to-day ; hence no wonder buyers were in a good temper for the sales. I . The best feature, however, i^ not so much an absence of stocks, but the sharp advance which has been made in price* during the j vacation, finding its expression in the higher . prices which weje certain on the opening day. Everybody had made up their minds ( tG pay more/ the difficulty being to say exactly what more to pay, or at least what - the rise would be. If the improved prices in Bradford were any criterion to go by, then merinos were certain to be 5 per csnt. ! higher and medium crossbreds 7£ to 10 per cent. Just as showing what the move- j ment has be?n like in Bradford for good > standard grade articles during the vaca- j tion, we attach the following table, which is i ■worth more than passing notice: — Dec. 14. Jan. 21 d. d. 70's Colonial tops 20J 21J 64's Coloaial tops 19^ 201 60's Colonial toijs ISi I9J 56's Colonial tops 16 17 j 50's Colonial tops. 11 i 12J I 46's Co'.onial tops SJ 9i 40's Colonial tops 7J 8 36's Colonial tops .... 7 7i The above table shows an advance in j every grade of top, and as the cut look is j good, the sales opened under most favourable auspices. An interesting item to colo- j nial growers will be the quantities available | for sale, and in the table below they will j see at ones that not a very h'rge quantity I awaited the attention of bu3 - er» on the opening of the sales : — Xet Available Baks New South Wales .. -. .- 40,200 Victorian 31,100 : Queensland 17,500 j South Australian 13,400 "West Australian 12.800 Tasmanian 500 New Zealand 59,700 South African .. .. „ 14,800 Total 133,000 The opening day's salo brought together a Very large contingent of buyer;. — in fuct, it \ was freely confessed that more men had turned up than usual for an open- j ing sale. Even America ?cut an extra, contingent, Yorkshire especially be.ng 6trongly represented. Tl.c catalogue sub- j mitted was just a passable one, being saved ] by the presence of a few good clips of. New South Wales and Queensland origin ; but there was still a large residue of wools of doubtful yield, tender and mushy ; while the crossbreds were mostly fellmongered •wools. However, there was plenty of eagerness displayed to be having hold of wool, buyers snowing no lack of intr rtst m \ahiing as they went round the respecthe \\urciionsos. I At the- start there was just a little <\v>\v of the usual bv-int of rcsrr\e, but ore a j hundred lots had beon Fold great animation was manifest, and bi'ls were gi\pu fioely j enough. Yorkshire buyers were to tho | front quickly, and kept to the front throughout the whole sale, taking the bulb of the catalogue. A few very good lot? were snapped up by one American buyer at rate* , that nobody else felt disposed to pay, the | Continental section not doing a grieat deal , any- way. The most pleasing feature was j the way G-ermanj and France patronised , medium and coarse crcssbreds, and here, for anything showing character, the rise was most marked. The result of the sale showed that merino 3 were dearer to the extent of 5 per cent. — the better the wool the more pronounced the rise. Fine crossbreds. too. I appreciated 5 per cent., but for medium and ; coarse crossbreds the rise touched 10 per -cent., with an occasional 12£ per cent, for a special good lot. Everybody appeared plsssed with the result, which was considered al' that could be desired. Sines the opening tho sales have made t?f)ocl progress. The opening ad\ances ha\«» been more than maintained, and on all sides there is a* strong hardening tendency, | especially for wools of character and quality. Sold by Messrs Charles Balme and Co., January 21.— MR over Abbotsfoid. Shpe— ll hales first halfbred combing withdrawn, 27 supei crossbred do withdrawn, 38 first do withdrawn, 7 Hdo 5Jd, 25 do sd. MR over Green Island: Washed— 6 super halfbred Bd, 5 first ■clo 6Jd, 5 do crossbred 5Jd, 20 second do lambs withdrawn, 6 crossbred pieces 5Jd. The first clip fared rathei badly, buyers hardly seeing <ye to eve with broker's valuation. The wools , ■were very good and useful, pec! may realise j more a \teek_beuce. E over Wakari Valley Grease — 6 halfbred combing 5Ad, 4 do sd, 14 crossbred do sd, 5 do 3Jd, 4 do bellies 3d, 8 combine 7Jd, 9 do 6Jd, 7 quarterbred do 7^d, 6 A halfbred do sJcl, 3 do sid, 23 do 6d, 10 do SJd, 11 do 4id, 7 second do 4<l, 14 first crossbred do 5Jd, 15 do sd, 17 first do sd, 6 do 4Jd, 9 do 4id, 25 dc lid, S first crossbred R do 4Jd, 31 damaged 4Jd. This was a good average hne of wool, of a useful character, though by no means so clean and smait as some wools CFM m box over Pairfield. Slipe — 2 superfine halfbred combing 7Jd, 7do "BJd, 27 do Bd, 6 do crossbred do 6id, 18 do 6£d, 27 do 6d, 15 second do 4Jd, 16 super Leicester do 5Jd, 27 do 5Jd, 35 do halfbred lamb 3 •withdrawn, 99 do fine crossbred do 7Jd, 61 do -withdrawn, 28 do 7Jd, 28 do 6id, 36 second do 4id. 2i super Lcicestei da 5Z4, 2* £4 sili- ,

drawn, 40 dc 51d, 21 do sld, 11 do sid. All these lots commanded keen competition, espe- . cialiy irom Bradford buyers. Gas or^two lots went to America, both quality sad condition helping nicely. Well giown, shaftv. and sound. Sold by Messrs Jacomb, Son, and Co., January 21. — MW in square over G ore : Grease — 13 bales first combing halfbred 6S&, 15 do crossbred s|d, 12 do three-auarterbred sid, 20 B crossbred 5Jd. These were nol more than average wools, and yet there was keen competition for every lot. KB in diamond over Gore. Slipe— 13 first halfbred lambs 7id, 16 super crossbred do 7d, H first do 7'd, 5 crossbred lambs 5Jd, 33 first three-quartsrbred do 6d, 33 do 52d, 33 do sjd, 32 do Sid, 10 crossbred do sd, 6 do combing thiee-quarterbred 6d, 20 first super three-quarterbred sd. 8 do 4id, 7 do A 4»d, 13 do combing Leicester 5Jd, 11 do sd. These lambs made tfairiy good prices considering •n-bat lambs are to-day selling fcr, the other lots likewise being in good aveiage condition, though hardly 6O smart as they often aic. Sold by Messrs Dvi Croz, Doxat, and Co., January 22 —Diamond over Cross Grease — 9 XX "first H 7d, 22 do G-fd, 13 do first H GJd 33 do G»d. 11 XX ?eco::d sid, 27 threequarter first H 6d, 37 do ogd. 32 do s}d, 24 do second sd. 22 Lsnco'n first oid, 8 do sd, 7 do second 4Jd, 15 crossbred 4Jd, 20 fir^t pieces 4Jd, 43 (rossbied do 4*d, 3 crossbred second do 4d, 17 scouro-d crossbred ciutchmgs s\d, 4 do sd. For crossbreds tliesc were by no mejuis bad wcolfc. indicating more quality an<l condition t'nin \~? usually see. They sold \ery rsadiiy to Bradford buyers. "Wool conditions this v,o»k hi Bradford have bc-c-n more or le^^ up;et with the opening of the London sales, but taking things in general there has been a good display of life and some speculative buying in anticipation of price? going higher. All round the market more business has been done on the eve of the sales than has born witnessed for months back, and it is mo^t surprising how tha attitude of men has changed towards both present and prospective prices. A good deal of attention has been devoted to crossbreds, and here, for tho time being, interest centres around the rise winch for weeks has appeared to be inevitable. There is no doubt that there is now going on a more extended use of medium and low crossbreds. especially among manufacturers in the Hudde-rsfield and Dewsbury districts, the price of yarns being such as to render their use compatible with the range of values for fabrics for which those districts are noted There ia plenty of talk of topmakrrs not allowing sound judgment to be influenced too much by outside pressure, and especially by the "extravagant and extremely optimistic views which arc- entertained in some quarters, for the trade to-day will not stand any seeon'l move similar to what took place in 1899. A reasonable advance will do good aud help to bring cut more buying orders, which arc simply being held back until naen Ee-c how wool is going to £G, and more business eoukl have been done last market clay if topmakera had been willing to sell forward. Nobody srems disposed to commit themselves to the future, and the fact of trade being fairly good throughout the woollen and worsted trades is making men % cry chary about taking contracts for which they "iave not covered. At the same time there^is an unquestionable let up m the marker, stocks are extremely light, and everybody is wanting to buy. and on all sides there is a general expectation of higher rates for all qualities of woo!. Better still, users are prepared to pay more, and because of that wool will be easy of sale.