LONDON WOOL SALES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3443, 9 March 1920, Page 13

LONDON WOOL SALES.

AUCTION RESULTS SUMMARISED. (From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON, December 27, 1919. Since last writing the final auctions of the year have come to a finish, and buyers were glad to get away home for the Christmas recess. It has been a rather rough time, for being domiciled three weeks in the city of London with sales six days per week moans everyone keeping their nose to the grindstone. ~ Then' a 10 per cent, average decline was more than many expected, though compensation has been found in the fact that the said decline had exerted a steadying influence on the trade, and giving everyone to see that the raw material is costing enough. The marvel to many people is how wool is being financed. Never a week passes but what an auction sale is taking place somewhere in England, for when London ceases there is spliced into the fortnight's vacation' a sale of wool shown at Hull and another of the wools shown at Manchester and Liverpool. This means that wool buyers are inspecting the raw material about 21 days out of the month, an experience unknown before. In the old days it used to be a common experience*for a July series of London sales to last a full month, but with so much wool being sold in the coloniest since 1910, seldom has any series of sales in Cole-man street lasted- much more than a fortnight. We shall probably get back to that order of things in 1922; in the meantime the trade is putting its shoulder to the wheel in a business-like way, and clearing arrivals as fast as possible. ..., MARKET PRICES. No untoward development took place during the closing days of the series. : French buyers competed a little more keenly during the last two or three days, and both merinos and crossbreds assumed a somewhat firmer aspect. In fact, French buyers repeatedly stated that they would have continued operations "on a very liberal scale but for the adverse exchange, a factor that is forced to be reckoned with? -by all.' American buyers have purchased;, a little more liberally because exchange favours them by at least 20 per cent., and the last eight days of the series saw some very reasonable lots picked up by this section. Some big prices continued to be made for good grease combing wools right to the finish. For instance, on the last : day- but one of the series 78d was paid for New South Wales 'grease oombi.no- merino, 70d to 60d being readily forthcoming for quite a large proportion of the best clips. These will not give more than 54- per cent, clean yield for 'the 70d wools, while for. the oOd wools the yield would figure around 48 to : 50 per cent We estimate that an average 64's could be made towards the close at lis per .lb, but super warp tops would cost all round 12s 6d. Of course, this is sensibly less than when such tops would cost during the opening week-, when many buyers said that. 13s was no use. Even for scoured merino combing IOOd was again touched, and comeback wool sold exceedingly weli at not far below merinos. Deep, shafty, South Australian combing wools made from 50d to 60d. wools that had been appraised in Adelaide at around 25d. Government profits are certainly big, and when one looks at the appraisement prices and compares them with actual sale prices in Coleman street, the difference is often staggering. ■* CHANGES SEEN. The following is a useful table showing what changes took place compared with the close of the previous auctions, and it will be seen that in the majority of cases a decline of 7£ to 10 per cent, took place: AUSTRALASIAN WOOLS. Greasy merino— Superior 6d cheaper Average / to good .. .. 6d to 8d cheaper Poor condition .. .. 6d cheaper Inferior locks and piecce 3d cheaper Scoured merino— Superior 6d chea.per Average- to good .. .. lOd cheaper Inferior .. 8d cheaper . Faulty locks and pieces 6d chea.per Greasy merino lambs— Superior .- .. 2d cheaper Medium 3d cheaper Inferior .. 3d cheaper Greasy crossbred— Fine, superior .. .. 4d cheaper Fine ordinary .; .. 6d chea.per Medium, superior .. .. 8d cheaper Medium, ordinary .. 8d Coarse, superior .. .. 4d cheaper Coarse, ordinary .. .. 4d cheaper Greasy crossbred lambs— Lambs, superior .. ..2d cheaper Lambs, ordinary .. ..2d cheaper Scoured crossbred— Fine 7d cheaper . Medium and coarse .. 6d cheaper Slipe crossbred — Fine lambs about par Medium lambs .. .. 4d cheaper Coarse lambs 4d cheaper ...,--. Greasy Punta Arenas— Well conditioned .. .. No offerings Wasty .. .. .. ..No offerings Falkland Islands .., .•. No offerings SOUTH AFRICAN WOOL. Snow white— Super 6d cheaper Medium 5d cheaper Inferior .2d cheaper Greasy combing— Light 2d cheaper Heavy 2d cheaper Greasy clothingLight 3d cheaper Heavy l£d cheaper THE TOP SALE. Tho Government are getting their final matchings combed as quickly as possible, and instead of distributing tops at schedule prices, are now offering all by auction.. Tliis means that for merino tops _ the department are making double their issue prices. Another top sale took place in Bradford towards the end of last week, when a different state of affairs obtained from what was seen a fortnight earlier, and

which marked the turning point of the market. Tho sale aroused great interest, a record attendance of buyers being present. Had there been another weak market there certainly would have been a blank Christmas for somebody, but the . expected. happened. At the sale a fortnight "before every spinner was expecting his neighbou* to be present and maintain the pace set on November 12. Instead of that the-majo-rity stopped away, leaving buyers to' ducks and drakes with the show. E*or instance, average 58's tops actually sold as low as 62d, wh©n an open market quotation was 116 d; another lot of *6's touched 10£d. and it will be seen from the foregoing open market price that these also wear© cheap. Last week a totally different aspect came over things, competition was broader and more animated. The following- table shows the difference between the' two sales t-

CANTERBURY GRAIN AND PRODUCE MARKETS. CHRISTCHURCH, March 5. The market has firmed during the week in tho majority of produce lines, the buret of wet weather which struck a good deal of the grain crop in, the stook being a - factor in this result. The cut crops suffered » good deal of damage, particularly ■ from Ash-" burton southwards into the North Otago, in which area many fine paddocks of stocks of oats and wheat bear a discoloured appearance, and in some localities are sprouting. The proportion of seconds, which previously promised to be exceptionally small, will be increased, to ordinary proportions as a result. Oats have firmed up, and all classes»are meeting with a better tone, up to 5s for good Duns having been paid at a country station; one line of particularly good sample fetching 4d more than this. However, this figure is beyond the market quotation. Algerians have been sold at country stations at a figure in excess of 6s id, .• but this was j for a particularly fine sample, of which there is very little about. -, The quality now being offered is generally very inferior, carrying % good proportion of Gartons and Duns, and is totally unfit "for seed. A good clean, heavy sample is worth 6s, but 3d to 6d less covers the class of Algerians now offering. The stagnant market has' improved in Gartons, due to an extent to the damaging extent of the wet weather, and also +o some' inquiry from the north. Up to 4s 9d at oountry stations is the market value at prosent. However, little is doing, merchants, not' showing much inclination to. speculate. Chaff is firmer, and is worth from £6' 10s to £7 per ton at country stations. The potato market is lifeless for* forward delivery. Italian ryegrass is 6d cheaper, but • th» market is firm, as it is also for white clover, sales of which have been made at over 2s per lb '..;.. ' Partridge peas are worth 7a a bushel at country stations. ;: Barley remains firm from 8s 6d to 9s at country stations. (Lyttelton Times, March 6:) There has been much dissatisfaction' by merchants, wheat brokers, and millers at the failure of the Government to promptly gazette the wheat regulations. The local market in grain has for the past few days been brisk in all lines. Oats have" advanced in the quotations on trucks at country stations as high as 4a lOd. Forward sellers in oats have been very enxious to cover in the last day or two*- It is stated from a recognised source that', the potato crop in "the south is looking remarkably well, and that the average of somo-of the crops should be at least 16 tens to the acre. United action has now been taken by the produce and seed merchants ■and the millers to obtain a regular cargo boat service and better facilities for transport of produce to Auckland. In regard to the new season's seeds, farmers' dressed have been -sold up to a* high as 2s 6d. There is not' much improvement - in the onion market at present owing to the fact that the crop has not so far .been harvested, and growers, are waiting for a probable rise in prices. The following are quotations:— . Oats. —Gartons, 4s 6d to 4s lOd; Algerians, 5s 8d to 5s 9d; Duns, 4s 6d to 4s lOd; extra dark heavy, ss. Barley.—Bs 9d to 9s 2d a bushel. Oatmeal. —251 b sacks, £33 per ton v Oatsheaf Chaff.—Bright heavy, £6 10s to £7, at country stations. Cocksfoot.—Undressed to Is 3d. Ryegrass. —Perennial, 6s to 6s 9d; Italian, 5s 6d to 6s. Clover.—" White, 2s to 2s 6d; red," 2s to 2s 6d. Onions.—£B pel ton.

Quality. December 3. d. • December 17, ■ d, 64's 153H61 64's dry combed. !! 146-150 — 60's .. 180-133 136-146J 58'g 32-105 98-lHi 56's 92 92-100 50's carded ~ 65J-74J 66J-71& 48's carded .. . .. 51^-57 54-56* 46's carded 44-48 45-464 40's prepared .. .. 34i-37 35|