THE WOOL MARKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 22

THE WOOL MARKET.

! SOME INTERESTING SUGGESTIONS.

\ £From Oub Own Correspondent.) LONDON, _ November 1. In the current number of The .Economist there ib an article by a special Jcorrespondent which presents some important suggestions as to the position and prospects of the colonial wool market. They will be read with interest in New Zealand. "In no portion of- our vast trade," says the writer, "is it more evident that the. old order is changing and giving place to a new, than in that of colonial wool., The growing importance of the various Australian markets has been illustrated sincethe present wool year, commenced on Ist July last, and more particularly since the opening sale of more than 20,000 bales in Adelaide on September 26. On- the 14th inst. another big sale took place at* that, centre, where a total of 46,000 bales has already been, marketed. At Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane _ bales have found buyers. At Adelaide, on the 28th insfc., there will be an. auction of no fewer than 30,000 bales,, and on the 31st the. opening sale at Geelong- will be held. ?It is at this centre that most of the superfine-. i wools. > grrown in tife western district o£ •Victoria are sold. " At a moderate estimate, therefore, it i 3 evident that by the end of this month more than 400,000 bales of. the new clip will have been sold in Australia. When it is remembered that only about 36,000 bales of Australian wools were offered at the -last Jjondon auctions, it will be seen that already more than 10 times- this quantity has found buyers at the Antipodes. Forty years ago the proportion was exactly the other way.' At that time Melbourne was the only colonial market of any; importance, with Sydney a poor second, and no auctions took place in Adelaide, Geelong, or Brisbane until long . afterwards. We - know | from a telegram published in the Yorkshire | Post that up to the 19th inst. about 263,000 I bales had been, sold in the Australian markets, against 144,000 hales for the corresponding period of last year, the increase being no less than 119,000 bales. "Users of wool^ at Bradford would do well to note this rapid 1 * marketing of the Australian dip compared with last year. There is not the- least doubt that before the -first "week in November ie passed more than 500,000. bales of the Australian new clip will be on their way to European and United States ports. The rapidity with whioh wool can be shipped nowadays compared with only a few years ago is simply marvellous. Last year, for instance, 48 j hourse after an auction of 20,000 bales I in Adelaide, not a single bale remained uni chipped. In the old days from 3000 to SQOO I bales were considered a good cargo, but ' now single vessels sometimes, carry more than -30,000 bales. i " When it is remembered- that, in addition to these large direct .purchases by European and United States operators, there are also afloat considerable direct shipments by growers for realisation at ih& next London auctions It will be seen there can be no wool famine this year. Within a faw weeks the markets at Bradford and on i the Continent will be flooded with AusixalisA wool. Just now fig . ssjl among

holders of the raw material is that th"© value of merino tope has not seen its highest noon. A few months.^ ago it was ■ predicted in ' Bradford that crossbred topis were bound to advance, and that a 40' a top would" be "'worth 20d before Christmas Day, but. as a matter of fact,. last Thursday at Bradford tihe market for this class of tops was weak at 16|d, and what has happened with regard -to coarse- crossbreds jnay happen in merinos."