LONDON WOOL SALES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3881, 31 July 1928, Page 15

LONDON WOOL SALES.

■SOUND CLOSE IN: COLEMAN* ■ ' ’ ■ STREET. ;- OFF’eRTSfGS EXPECTED TO SELL BETTER IN : , july. .. (From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON, May 24. The outstanding feature in connection with the London sales, which finished last Tuesday, is the general competition, that prevailed. The merinos .largely! commanded, the attention of the. Continent, but the home trade gaye excellent support, and the purchases for that, section .were fully in line with;'what any-' body».» could reasonably ..expert. ; J ;! Into, England to-day there : is pouring, a big weight ~of ?direct , imports—wopj, .bought, in Australia, New Zealand,Land - South Africa at > the •> highest, point ,of the season. These wools now confront buyers, and it is their business to get rid of them to the very best of their ability. Unfortunately the state of the trade is by no means what it was. when the wools were bought. The fact isthat markets . have'completely changed compared with the first two months of this year. The wool then bought is having to be dealt with, and users see that it cannot be sold to-day or used at a profit. This has- acted throughout the recent London sales more or* less as a brake, and has prevented that activity and free buying on the'part of the home trade which took place-during the first two'series -of the' year, ' Nevertheless the raw- ' material has-Sold exceedingly well;

'HOLDING FOR BETTER PRICES. . The merino offerings throughout! the series have.not-been at all. great... If the New 'England greasy, .wools had been eliminated the offerings would have been very scrappy indeed. There has not been, a single: big straight ' clip catalogued The • largest clip from Queensland was the 270/ bales marked JM/Rosevale. These were station scoured wools, and made the highest price of the series for this class' of staple.' The fleeces touched ,49d, : combing 48d-46d. broken 45}d; pieces 42d. bellies 39d, and locks 38d. Saltern Creek was represented by 124 bales, the greasy merino combing touching . necks 24|d. broken 23d, pieces ISJd. and bellies 19Jd. I have given these two clips to show the prices that have beieri current. Of course, there have been any amount of second-hand parcels .from Queensland. A much bigger selection has'been offered from New South 'WnTo but even tfiis has been'overshadow.-d New Englands. These have 'sold " where, from 30d to 3Sit, ,pne'Specid’. ' .' making 34d. The built, of ’ v. . . Is ■have met with a very firjfi mjjrkgt', though I certainly think to have realised Id more,' .. Anyone, wanting fine quality could have diis .'fill in this .selection, but the trade to-day seems to be completely off. 76-80’s, wanting deeper merinos simply because of the lower •first cost. • To-day it is supremely a question of price, and I. feel . certain- that this is going to obtain until the. average; ■price of all wool is lower. .Of course, that is not going to be just yet.. I am .simply stating,, the fact that the cheaper ■ wools have sold the . best, simply because’ spinners and -manufacturers'‘ are. em ■ deavouring to . meet-the popular.' demand,. .One or two lots of Tasmanian wools Iffive been catalogued, St.. Peter’s Pass being ' represented- by 157 bales.- 1 The ; greasymerino fleece touched 29£d, combing 28d,~ - greasy comeback, 31Jd, fleece- 27d f -pieces

29d-24d. and bellies’ This was a splendid lot of wool, and the fact that the comebacks touched 314 d, against 29Jd Tor the merino, is significant. CROSSBREDS WANTED. Another feature of the series has been the splendid offering* of New Zealand crossbreds and the demand which has been seeh for these wools. If I take yesterday’s: sale I find evidence of this. Hakatariimea touched 27d for greasy quarterbred, necks 25d, halfbreds 26Jd. and ■ Corriedale 25 Jd. Lilydale scoured halfbred combing touched 44d, while Codley Peaks scoured combing made 47|d. A line' of slipe halfbred lambs marked WMECd. made 31d, prices '• which all indicate that an excellent standard was maintained right to the finish.- I have been delighted with the reception with which the New Zealand wools have met. On one day last week a line of slipe halfbred lambs touched 34d, these being from Canterbury. Of course, one spectacular price does not make a market, and l 31d ’has been around the average price made for slipe halfbreds. Still, the wools have sold readily. Even America -has bought steadily of threequarterbred lambs (48-50’s). I certainly think that the reception that crossbreds have met with, both New Zealand and Puntas. could hardly have been better, a i 1 though slightly lower prices have ruled .for 48-50’s wools, competition has remained good and prices must still be regarded as very satisfactory. CHANGES SEEN. I give below a list of alterations compared with the close of the March series:— AUSTRALIAN AND NEW. ZEALAND wool.;

THE. OUTLOOK FOR WOOL. I am satisfied that 'the future of the raw material is still good, although the entire trade is very subdued regarding any, advance in prices; No reader need think that the writer? is- attempting to “Bear’’-.the market. There may be a radical change before this letter appears -in print;? but wholesale' fabric buyers,• including merchants and -export Bouses;

strongly resent paying current., p! They: are quite frankly determined to pay no more money, even if they have to take worse quality. Probably the distributors and the principals of multiple shops think they are getting something cheaper, but they are doing nothing of the sort. They are simply getting 60’s at the same price as they, paid for 64’s ;ia=>t August and September. The 3d to 6d per yard, which in a suit ?wonld not come to 2s, is stopping a good' deal of .business. Yet it has been made quite .clear by thc movement of values in London that the raw material is not going to be any cheaper just yet. Whether British fabric buyers will pay any more or not.'dt certainly'looks as if the World’s 1 con.'umption is quite adequate to absorb all available supplies. I am therefore looking forward for firm. prices for the next three dr'; four months. The probability. is. that the wool withdrawn from the May series will sell quite as well.in July, due to the fact that, though users are only operating at present from hand to mouth, supplies are not likely to be any more than adequate for all requirements.

Greasy mertno— Superior . . Average to good . About par About par About par About par • Poor condition . . Inferior locks &'pieces Scoured merino— Superior ■ . ; . 2d cheaper Average to good . •’ Inferior . . . Faulty . locks & piece's Id to 2d cheaper Id to 2d cheaper About par Greasy merino lambs— Superior. Medium. . . . . ’ ; Inferior Id to 2d. cheaper Id cheaper Id cheaper Greasy crossbred— Fine superior . .. Fine ordinary ... Medium superior I Medium ordinary Coarse superior . . : Coarse ordinary . . Lambs ; ..... .Scoured crossbred— Id cheaper id to Id cheaper. Id cheaper >-"■ Id cheaper Id cheaper id to Id cheaper 2d cheaper ■'Fine . . . 2d dearer Medium and coarse . Slipe crossbred— id dearer > Fine Iambs . . 2d cheaper Medium lambs ■ 2d cheaper Coarse, lambs . . . Par - ■ Faulty, classes , . .' id cheaper ■ ’ SOUTH AMERICAN WOOL. ’Greasy Punta'ArenasWell conditioned . . Wasty ■ ... . , Greasy Falkland Islands Id to ijd cheaper Id cheaper Id cheaper SOUTH AFRICAN WOOL. ■ Snow white— Super Westerns . . Super . Id to 2d cheaper Id cheaper Medium. . .... Id cheaper Inferior ..... ..." Id cheaper Greasy combing— Light ..... id cheaper Heavy . ..... Greasy clothing— id cheaper .. Light. . ..... id. cheaper Faulty ■ . . . :. . . id cheaper