OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3899, 4 December 1928, Page 15

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

SLIGHTLY BETTER COMPETITION IN LONDON. (From Our Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, September 27. The' character of the offerings throughout the past week in London has left nothing to be desired in any class of raw material. Every buyer has been able to satisfy himself with the wool catalogued, but unfortunately on some days 30 per cent, has been withdrawn. The last few days have produced better competition, but no higher values can be reported. Owners of second-hand parcels have at last realised the futility of refusing to accept the prices bid, and this has naturally been followed by larger sales. This has been a move in the right direction. Providing there is reasonable competition,

the wool should be sold at the best prices obtainable. Of course, there are serious losses—in many cases anything from 4d to 6d per grease lb. I hope colonial pastoralists will realise what all this means, for there is no more serious factor in connection with the trade at present than the lost capital of buyers. In the slump of 1920-21 64’s tops fell from 13s 6d to 3s; then came the slump of 1925, when 64’s dropped from 6s 6d to 4s, and now we have a third slump, entailing losses on merino wool of 6d per lb’ and on crossbreds of fully 2d per lb. These slumps have made serious inroads into the financial resources of scores of firms. If there is no improvement in demand then there will be a considerable weight of wool to carry over next June 30 into the following season. NEW CLIP OFFERINGS.

There have 'been this week some nice offerings of new clip wools from Queensland, and these have commanded very satisfactory competition, considering the times through which we are passing. For instance, Tinenburra/T in triangle was represented by 265 bales, a clip that showed plenty of quality, but was on the red side and rather dusty and seedy. The top line of grease combing made 21d, other lots selling at 20d to 18d, necks ISd to 16d, broken 17Ad to 15-ld, pieces 15d to 13Jd, locks 9Jd, and scoured pieces 32Jd. The very big clip marked G & T/Barcaldine. comprising all round 800 bales, showed bulk 70’s quality, and can be regarded as typical of Central Queensland. It showed style particularly suitable to French and German buyers, and competition from that quarter was creditable. The top line of greasy combing touched 23d. quite a number of other lots touching 22Ad to 181 d, necks 20d to 18d, broken 19Jd, pieces 17d and 16Ad, bellies 19d and 18d. weaners 20d. ditto necks 19-Jd to 161 d, and pieces 17Ad to 15d. This was the biggest clip offered this series, and shows clearly what standard of values can be expected during the forthcoming season. There have been considerable secondhand offerings from all the States. I cannot see any improvement in the prices for scoured merinos, and good, straight Queensland lots are selling at 42d to 43d, a depreciation of 4d per lb compared with July. As a matter of fact, the bulk of the merinos are down around 4d per lb clean compared with the close of the previous series. I do not like to see good, straight New England greasy wools selling in the neighbourhood of 26d to 27d. and call these wools 3d cheaper compared with the previous series. Some superior lines of West Victorian wools are selling at 29d to 30d, wools that cost 3d to 4d more in Geelong and Melbourne. All faulty merinos, both grease and scoured, can be called fully 10 per cent, under July prices, and the same remarks apply to even average and very good wools. CROSSBREDS CHEAPER. Turning to crossbreds, there is a very attractive offering being made every day, but I very much doubt if the prices paid will satisfy owners of either greasj’ fleece or slipes. The latter bulk largely in the offerings, and all descriptions are 3d under July prices. If one takes slipe halfbred lambs, bids are being made of 24d for lots that would easily have seen 27d made last series. One specially, fine 58’s lot went to France last week at i 291 d. The bulk of the halfbred lambs are fetching from 25d to 27d, and threequarterbred lambs are selling anywhere from 21d to 23d. Leicester lambs are moving in the neighbourhood of 21d and Lincoln lambs around 194 d. Unfortunately there has been a very marked decline in good greasy halfbreds, and the movement of values is going to mean a loss to those owning the wools. I was very dubious about the wisdom of speculators paying from 26d to 28d in the grease towards the end of last season in New Zealand. I said then that the wools that were likely to depreciate the least were medium descriptions, and that has turned out to be correct. Greasy halfbreds at the prices named w'ere beyond their intrinsic value. Although fashions during the past six months have favoured 56’s wools, 50’s have competed very keenly, and to-day there are lower stocks of 50’s tops in Bradford than 56’s. It has all been a question of price. There has been a movement towards lower qualities all round the market, and I find the prospects again point to a continuance of these features, only in the meantime those speculators reoffering New Zealand wools in Coleman Street are having to gulp down a bitter pill.

This series there are some fair offerings of scoured wools, evidently the result of firms having bought fair quantities locally, sorting same, and then scouring for the London market. The prices bid for these wools cannot but result in a loss, but they are being let go. Iliko, which I think is a Canterbury mark, saw the scoured merino bellies make 36d, halfbred 29Jd. halfbred pieces 31Ad, crossbred pieces 23J-d, bellies 22d, and scoured comeback bellies 35d. Taking the sales as a whole, there is no feature from which colonial pastoralists can obtain much inspiration. It must be apparent to all that the forthcoming clips will have to be sold at less money than last season. All the information received here about the strike of waterside workers at the various Australian ports has been read with interest, though not without some feelings of disappointment. No section of the industrial life of this country is more anxious to see trade and commerce throughout the world proceeding on steadily developing lines, and nowhere is it more clearly recognised that strikes are decidedly injurious. It is neither necessary nor desirable for the writer to take up any partisan attitude. No doubt the work that has to be done by the labourers is very exhausting in hot weather, but surely that should not be any cause of disaffection in September. The aspect of the question upon which the writer is able to comment with some authority is that the holding up of weekly offerings of wool valued at £1,000,000 is a serious matter. It may mean an unnecessary depression of values in Australia, and an equally unnecessary inflation in London. It is possible that values in Coleman Street would have fallen still

lower but for the strike. Importers with pearly bought wool to sell may have benefited to that extent, but this is a speculative suggestion rather than a record of fact. It is gratifying to know that some sense of reason still remains

in the Labour movement in Australia, this being revealed at the Maritime Union's conference in the statement “that those who were continuing the strike were acting inimically to the solidarity of the Labour movement." Happily there is plenty of wool available to keep machinery running. No hardship has been imposed upon the trade in that respect; but it is never a good thing when supplies of any commodity are held up artificially. It tends to create fictitious values, and the wool textile industry of the West Riding of Yorkshire has had quite enough of those. STOCKS OF TOPS. It is agreed on all hands that textile manufacturing conditions on the Continent are as unsatisfactory as in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Confirmation of this is found in the fact that stocks of tops in Continental combing establishments at the end of August were larger than at the beginning of the year. The stocks of tops in Germany amounted to 8.649,000 kilos, an increase of 3.420,000 kilos compared with January this year. At the end of August, 1927, the quantity was 6,017.000 kilos. At the end of last August the stocks of tops in RoubaixTonrcoing amounted to 15,130,000 kilos, an increase of nearly 4,000,000 kilos compared with January. The quantity held at the end of August. 1927, was 12.190,000 kilos. In Belgium the total at the pnd of August was 3,135",000 kilos, an increase of 750,000 kilos compared with January. The stocks of tops in Italy at the end of August stood at 1.542,000 kilos. The quantity at the end of January was only 390,348 kilos. All these figures are indicative of very unsatisfactory consumption. Obviously increased consumption by spinners is needed to pave the way for more wool buying. (For continuation of “Farm and Station,” see page 19.)