OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3833, 30 August 1927, Page 15

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) RAW MATERIAL STILL IN A VERY SOUND POSITION. BRADFORD. June 23. “ W qol is top dog.” “ The Bradford trade is done.” ‘’There is no chance for anybody except those doing a merchanting trade in the raw material.” Such expressions as these are frequently heard in this city, and it cannot be denied that there is a good deal of truth in them. The unfortunate thing is that whilst those handling the raw material have before them the prospect of very firm values, and are likely to find good markets, this is doing little towards the employment of labour. Alerchants realise quite as well as anyone else that big quantities of wool can be turned over without employing a big staff. There is not the same amount of detail work in buying and selling wool as in putting it through the manufacturing processes necessary before it can be placed on the market as finished cloth. Even then there is a sphere for merchanting. retailing, and tailoring. No doubt a thorough knowledge of wool and the sources of supply is necessary to the merchant who buys and sells. It is also necessary to know something about the needs of users. Yet this knowledge can. so to speak, be retained in very small space, and is difficult to impart to others, for it is really the accumulation of years of observation, and perhaps some of it has been acquired by making rather serious mistakes. As soon as wool comes to be put through the manufacturing processes, however, there is the scouring, carding, combing, spinning, weaving, dyeing, etc., and to carry on all these in the production of big weights of fabrics. large numbers of workpeople are wanted. 'The fact that a good deal of spinning and manufacturing machinery in the Bradford distinct is standing to-day is an alarmin* r one, for all the time a big wool merchanting business is going on. and the bulk is being sent abroad, either in the. bale just as it is bought, or after being sorted into its respective qualities for the known requirements of users. It is really painful to many people in the trade to-dav to see so much wool leaving the country', and it is not surprising that such pessimistic comments as those quoted above are frequently heard. As a statement of fact this picture is not overdrawn, though there are certainly redeeming features. One is that recent official information respecting employment in Bradford and district shows an increase. This applies to employment generally, and it is doubtful whether the wool manufacturing industry is responsible for an important contribution. It is also known that the export trade of Great Britain has improved; but here again there is little evidence that Bradford spinners and manufacturers have done anything outstanding to increase the volume and value of our exports to other countries. CONTINENTAL ACTIVITY. In striking contrast with the partial unemployment in Bradford, we are given to understand that mills on the Continent are busy. Travellers frequently leave Bradford for the Continent to sell tops, yarns, and piece goods among connections which it has taken years to build up, but they return with rather doleful reports about the business they have been able to do, and express their disappointment with the machinery activity at home compared with what they have seen 'in and elsewhere. They find that mills there are

working two shifts a day, that the restrictions on overtime working are not as severe as at home, that wages are lower, and that various overhead charges are less. This all appears to give to Continental users of wool a very distinct advantage over their competitors in Yorkshire, and these travellers would be among the last to prophesy any definite improvement in the volume of our export trade. The most significant fact which arises out of these circumstances is that there is every probability of Continental users continuing to want large weights of wool, and their own overhead charges being less than ours, along with their capacity for output, gives them a distinct advantage in buying. The outlook for a continued large absorption of wool in the various markets of the world is. therefore, quite good. Tn spite of the fact that tops and yarns cannot be sold in Bradford to-day at prices which correspond with the present cost of the raw material, no one anticipates any decline in the latter. Demand still dominates supplies in a most remarkable fashion, and no one expects any other than that wool offered by public auction in London in the near future will be cleared at prices fully equal to those current at the last sales. The way for this has already been paved by extensive private purchases of wool in both Bradford and London at prices which were actually above those paid at the last sales. This was a response to the limits at which wool was withdrawn. Remarkably good prices have been paid for merino wool, and the revival of interest on Continental account in crossbred tops and yarns indicates that crossbred wool will continue to sell without any decline in values, even if no actual advance is recorded. This improvement in the demand for tops and yarns is quite welcome to Bradford, for it is a trade in which this centre has specialised. It will assist the employment of combs and spindles, but will confer no benefit upon the looms, though an increase of employment among manufacturers is more urgently needed than by spinners.

EXPORT TRADE SUAIAIARISED. The following shows the exports of tops, etc., from the United Kingdom during the first five months of the past three years:—

Yarn— Woollen 2,528.400 1,796,900 2,566,500 Worsted 17,372,900 10,018,000 15,921,000 Fabrics— sq. yds sq. yds. sq. vds. Woollen 55,076,400 47,472,700 45.415.300 Worsted 21,825.600 19,019,000 16,631,200 The following shows where worsted yarns went, a comparison being included for 1913: —

BRADFORD AIARKET. Prices for fine tops in Bradford are principally influenced by the firmness of the raw material. Some business is being done, but there is not sufficient weight passing to enable topmakers to command higher prices, though it is recognised, that the cost of the raw material to-dajr is fully equal to what can be realised for the combed article. The news received from Alelbourne of a slight ease in merinos has had no effect hero whatever, the wools offered not being sufficiently representative from the Bradford point of view. Sydney values were also very firm, but the home trade was not a very large buyer. Private sales of fine wool in this country also indicate that, as further supplies come forward they will be readily absorbed, though the immediate outlook for the home trade being a really extensive buyer is not encouraging. Crossbred tops of all qualities are firm. There is slightly less irregularity in fine sorts, and the quotations current last week for medium and low sorts are firmly maintained to-day. A quiet business is passing in these, and the position in crossbred wool and tops may now be said to have become more firmly established than seemed likely a few weeks ago. This is largely due to the developing inquiry ot» Continental account.

Jan.-May, Jan.-May, Jan.-May, 1925. 1926. 1927. lb. lb. lb. Tops . . 13,359,200 13,635.000 18,346,200

Jan.-May, Jan.-May, Jan.-May, 1013. 1926. 1927. lb. lb. lb. Russia 519.500 — — Sweden 490,100 537,900 387,400 Norway 614.100 473.700 436,300 Denmark 747.100 612,100 652,200 Germany . 12,622,400 3.613,400 S.427,200 Netherlands 725,600 347.SOD 4 67,900 Belgium . 489,300 67.400 158.000 France 599,900 150.700 99.900 Japan — 653.800 1.211,800 U.S.A. 23,500 10,300 10.000 Australia . — -. 4 90,000 626,700 Other countries 4,186,600 3.090,900 3.443.600 21,018,100 10.04S.0u0 15,921,000.