OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 13

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

SOME FACTS RELATIVE TO RAW MATERIAL DEMAND.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, May 31. This letter is being written just after the Whitsuntide holidays. Thousands of people from the Yorkshire mills have taken the opportunity to get into the open air, and some of them have not returned to work even yet. We have had a long, miserable winter, and the present shining of the sun is more than welcome. Last week practically everything of any real use to the reader was said about the third series of London sales, which had just closed. The only comment that one may profitably add is about the quantity sold. This was 80,000 bales, the home trade taking 29,500 bales, the Continent 49,500, and America 1000. This leaves 33,000 bales to be carried over to the next series, which are expected to commence about the middle of July. This quantity of wool

will no doubt help to make a more substantial offering, and I think owners are taking a right course in keeping their wool for sale on the occasion named instead of accepting the low bids made in May. A comparison between the first three scries of 1927 and 1928 brings out some r ‘■her interesting facts. The quantity offered at the third series of this year was exceptionally small, but more wool was sold than at the third series in 1927 when there was a larger offering. A STRIKING REPORT.

There is reason for concern about the future of the British spinner and manufacturer, but wool is all right simply because of the machinery hunger which exists everywhere With surplus war profits the majority of mill owners installed more machinery, and are wanting to keep it running. During and after the war a large quantity of obsolete plant was renewed with new and quicker running spindles and looms. This has increased nroductive capacity, and necessitates a bigger demand for wool and its products. During the past four years what is known as the Balfour Committee on Industry and Trade hi been compiling information, and has just published some valuable data relative to the textile trade of this country. It is stated that the numbers occupied remained about the same from 1851 to 1921, but that in the same period the number of spindles increased from 2,500.000 to over 8,000,000 and the number of looms from 42,000 to 115,000. This is very striking information and is rather different in tenor from the statements frequently made by those engaged in the trade tc the effect that to keep machinery running everybody is “ cutting things to death. Some very bitter complaints are being made every day by spinners and manufacturers. Strong pleas have been made that the former should stand out ior better prices, but some of them say that it is useless to talk like this. The real problem is that spinners are not getting instructions for the delivery of yarns sold months ago at less money than present cost. Among manufacturers it is being found too frequently that the demand for cloth is very poor, neither home_ nor export requirements being sufficient to keep all the machinery running. COMPETITIVE FACTORS AT WORK.

Another question which growers should find interesting is the comparative merits of British and Continental cloths. This is naturally associated with the problems involved in the protective measures for which pressing demands have been made by manufacturers in the Bradford district. Any member of the general public who has taken the trouble to follow all the controversies which have waged round the Safeguarding of Industries Bill and the manufacturing conditions in the West Riding of Yorkshire is practically certain to have found himself in a maze of contradictions from which there seemed to be no hope of escape. It has been claimed that French dress goods have sold in this country in increasing quantities, and that manufacturers have been able to offer them more cheaply because a greater number of hours are worked in the mills for smaller remunerations. The question has been attacked from various standpoints without _ anything very conclusive being achieved, and the probability is that the anomalies will remain a' long as the _ textile manufacturing industry is carried on in this country and on the Continent. No capable judge who has examined British and foreign dress goods has ever been deceived about the intrinsic value of either, but too much has been said about the increasing imports, of Continental fabrics, the impression being given that there was, after all, something about them which gave them a pre-eminent place in the estimation of the public. In the opinion of some of the manufacturers and merchants, it was high time less was said about the importations of foreign goods and more definite recognition given to the place which. West Riding goods still undoubtedly hold in the estimation of discriminating members of the community. LADIES’ FASHIONS.

If there is any sign at all being given about the prospective demand for piece goods suitable for women’s wear it is that fabric styles are leaning rather more to, “semi-men’s” goods of tailoring weights. . a the manufacture of these fabrics Bradford firms cannot be beaten by any others in the world. The use of twofold yarns for the warp gives far

greater durability than is found in trench goods. From intimations which have appeared in the press it is evident that French manufacturers are realising the necessity for extending their export markets and for obtaining wool at reasonable prices in order to help them in competition with other countries. This is a rather striking revelation in the light of the persistent complaints made by our own manufacturers, but it is not only in prices but also in actual quality that trench manufacturers will have to excel if they wish to capture more of the worlds trade. They are evidently realising their deficiencies in this respect, for it is understood that experienced men have gone from this country into the French mills. These facts indicate that competition between British and Continental firms in fully manufactured goods is likely to be as keen during coming years as it has been at any time in the history of the textile industry.

The chief significance of the above to pastoralists lies in the reference to the weight of cloth for ladies’ goods. If there is any truth in the statement to the effect that styles are beginning to loan rather more to heavier cloths for women’s wear it is by no means an ill omen from the wool point of view. So much has been said about the competition of artificial silk with wool and cotton that one hesitates to say anything more about it at this juncture; but there are still many signs of an extending use or artificial silk for women’s garments, this all going against the absorption of , , ertheless ’ for the'production ot ladies cloths of tailoring we ; <dit wool will, no doubt be drawn upon very extensively, and in spite of all the disquieting things that may be said there is no real evidence of wool losing its status for textile manufacturing purposes.

VALUE OF BRITISH WOOL EXPORTS.

-Though the wool grown in Great Britain contributes a comparatively small share to the aggregate production of raw material throughout the world, it fills by no means an insignificant place in supplying manufacturing needs, and a good deal hangs upon the movement of prices at the beginning of each season. A very important volume of business is done by merchants in the export of British wool to other countries. It is estimated that about half the total clip of approximately 117,500,0001 b goes abroad. The United States and Germany are reckoned among - our largest buyers, and though the Board of Trade returns do not indicate the fact, it is known that fair weights of Scotch blackface ivool are sent to Italy. Judging from what is indicated in the said returns, there must have been a large consumption of domestic wool at home during the past 12 months, for though there is no weight of old clip leftover, a decrease is shown in exports during the first four months of this year in comparison with the corresponding period of 1927, and last April the total export was 1,400,0001 b less than in April, ,1927. Exports to Germany were reduced by about half and exports to the United States fell from 1,656,0001 b to 1,210,0001 b. All classes of domestic wool have undoubtedly kept very dear throughout the season, and merchants are particularly anxious that the new clip shall be bought on as reasonable a bqsis as possible. The following figures show the value of our exports of home-grown wool during 1925, 1926, and 1927. Five million pounds is certainly not a despisable sum. It represents both fleece and skin wools. During the first four months of this year the total value of the wool exported was £1,389,000: —

1925. 1926. 1927. £ £ £ Germany . 1,389,521 Netherlands 80,752 612,422 1,281,208 97,789 140,637 Belgium . 344,168 283,156 France . . 150,366 102,495 190,005 U.S.A. . . 1,902,982 1,616,361 1,392,849 Canada . . 261,379 Other coun153,917 tries . . 1,494,322 1,459,498 1,502,573 Total . 5,623,490 4,325,638 5,164,581