OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3996, 14 October 1930, Page 17

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

WHY BY-PRODUCTS ARE CHEAP,

PRESENT AND PRE-WAR PRICES : A STRIKING COMPARISON.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) _ BRADFORD, August 6. Everyone in any way connected with the textile industry knows what tremendous quantities of by-products ar» produced. Whether it be wool, mohair, cotton, or any other fibre, the processes of manufacture result in a good deal of waste. The term “ waste,” however, is lu . this case used to indicate that anything is lost. Indeed, nothing is wasted in the sense that there is anything which cannot be turned to some purpose or other more or less similar to the one to which the original product is applied. Let us imagine that we have a quantity ot greasy wool containing a big proportion of shiv or burr. After scouring, the special machinery for taking out the vegetable matter comes into operation, and the carding process produces a considerable weight of what is called card waste and burrs, this being worth 3Jd to 4d per lb for merino and Id to 2d for crossbred qualities. The actual price depends upon the specific quality and r condition. The writer remembers that five or six years ago, when values for everything were much higher than they are to-day, carbonised merino burrs were bought in considerable quantities at 30d per lb, whereas to-day the price is 18Jd. Some of the difference between the latter figure and the afore-mentioned _ 3Jd to 4d is due to the fact that woo) of the kind we have in mind has been freed entirely of all vegetable matter; but it is still very important to remember the difference made by quality, etc. The shrinkage in the carbonising process is tremendous, and readers will quite understand that anything costing only 3d to 4d per lb may easily need to lie sold at five or six times more after it has been thoroughly cleaned and made ready for the particular purpose for which it is suitable. When card waste has been ■ carbonised it becomes <very useful for the production of woollen cloths. After the carding comes combing, the • by-product, of which is noils. These are produced in qualities all the way from 32’s to 80’s, and even finer. Noils are

a very remarkable product, and it would provide a very interesting object lesson for many readers to see a range of samples of the qualities named, and all those coming in between. If we take the .two leading descriptions of noils—merinos and crossbreds—each of these can again be .divided into clear and burry noils. This is saying nothing about the lange of qualities; but ,it is possible to buy noils ■ which must be carbonised beiore being fit for use. These are the burry sorts, the burr being a vegetable fibre which it is necessary to remove, aiid, of. course, there may be shivs and other similar vegetable matter. It will be seen from this that there cannot be anything more interesting and instructive than the examination of a range of noil samples which has been already .mentioned. ~he difference between tops and noils is that the latter are the short fibres thrown out by the combing machine, the tops coming out in a long' sliver. The combing charges are based on the percentage of top and noil. In estimating the value of wool it is necessary to have an idea how much it will “ tear ” which simply means how many pounds of top to one pound of noil will be J lelded by the combing process. This is a consideration quite distinct from either quality or condition, and it is obvious that in judging for these three things the buyer needs to understand the job thoroughly. In the first instance it is entirely a question of making estimates, and these can only be expected to be reasonably near the mark after extensive opportunity has been provided for comparing estimates with actual results and handling considerable quantities of raw material.

Laps, which are mostly made by spinners, are broken pieces of tops anywhere from the length of one’s hand to, say half a yard. Of late years they have sold at distinctly above their real market yahie, or relatively higher than the top itself. In former times there used to be a good deal of lap tops made—that is, laps were sorted to a standard quality and recombed. The article was shorter, but very useful for cheapening purposes. As a rule, after being “ teazed,” laps are blended with other materials for the production of woollen cloths. Here, too, there are laps of all qualities corresponding to the qualities of tops combed. Being simply broken ends, they contain all the properties of the top from which they came except its length, and are therefore a . very valuable by-product indeed, fetching by far the highest price of any by-product in the wool textile industry. It is never necessary to carbonise laps, simply because the shiv and burr have been removed during the carding and combing. Then follow thread wastes, and here again we have a big quantity. For our purpose they need only be briefly mentioned. It would be most interesting if we had space to give a list of the thread wastes made and sold during the days of war control, there being a special department of the War Office for this . purpose. This department included leading members of the trade, who were responsible for getting together the wastes, sorting them to a standard quality, and then offering them to users. Thread wastes have all to be garnetted—that is, the fibres made open and free like raw wool, so that they can be used in the production of woollen cloths. The above brief description of the different products made throughout the woollen and worsted industries and the recognition of their usefulness suggests the question, “ Why are they so cheap ? ” for that is a fact which is having to be recognised. _ The imposition of higher import duties in America has hit noils very seriously. No trade has been done of any moment with Boston during the past three months, and the duties having been raised from 9Jd to per lb means driving the price of noils down in Bradford to a very low level if any more American trade is to be done. Another very important _ reason why noils are so cheap is found in the present standing of scoured merino and crossbred wools. Anyone attending the recent London sales could not but be shocked at the very low prices which scoured clothing woofs were making, including pieces, bellies, and locks. The cheapness of these has dealt to noils a very crushing blow; in fact, there seems to be so much cheap wool on the market that noil values are not going to lift substantially until demand expands or there is a lessened supply of these carbonising merinos Every manufacturer knows that there is more, body and staple in carbonised clothing wools, including laps, than in noils, and users are naturally going to buy the article which produces the best fabric. Of course, certain fabrics are being made where the use of noils is an absolute necessity: but it is well known that so much _ clothing wool being available is affecting seriously the sale and price of noils.

The following table gives a striking comparison of present prices for byproducts with those current in 1929 and 1914. It will be seen that during the past 12 months there have been some very big declines—in some cases about 100 per cent., and in others around 50 per cent. The declines have been -so drastic as to bring prices below the 1914 level, and this would never have come about if wool had not fallen so seriously The only grain of comfort which can be got out of such a slump in values is that it should be conducive to increased consumption. and it has already been pointed out that there are certain purnoses for which by-products are very useful indeed :

July July July 31, 31. 31. 1930. 1929. 1914. d. d. d. VO's average noils 17 32J 205 64’s average clean noils 15.J 30 1931 G4’s average burry noils 13 273 173 70’s super Cape noils.. 20 345 195 56’s average carded noils 12 19 152 46’s average carded noils 10 15 129 46’s prepared noils .. 10 15J 122 64-70’s white laps 21 35 28J 64-70’s coloured laps . . 18 325 27