ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13373, 6 May 1914, Page 5

ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

•A BIG TRADE IN MAZAMtiT SELK

WOOLS

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

; BRADFORD, March 27, 1914 We are Mife'^to face with } th©- fact that wool. still dtimihates the whole- situation, and what has been done this . week, particularly at' Brisbane, emphasises the soimd standing.of the raw materjlal.. I'or many days there' haft been' a gbqd deal of talk indulged" 1 m 'abttufc crossbred . Svool probably being a little cheajel" at the, third series of London sale&, but if the sheepskin auctions kaA £te B^ifebauesale this week feount for >: anything*, ! 'it shows conclusively that both 5 merino? and crossbred wool bid fair to mairitkin. at least to-day's level of values. One of the largest buying brokers said last market day that he considered all descriptions of the raw material, but particularly merinos, as safe as houses; and it needs but little by way" of further buying to see fine wool and tops quoted against th© buyer. Last week there was a tendency on the part of some fine topmakers to accept a fraction less, m fact we know of one good standard topmaker who was willing to sell a nice weight of average 64's tops at 2s E>id, but to-day 2s s£<l is a firm price, and those who were demanding •httlf-a-crown for a better article are less disposed today to move than they -were a week ago. To the best and most experienced members of the trade the conviction is a growing one that merinos are firmer than ever, and many are asking^ where stocks are coming from m order to cause values to ease. We think all sections of the trade would be wisely advised to put from their mirids ail consideration of cheaper wool. It is quite., true that •the manufacturing end ofUhe. home trade leaves ' rdonY for improvement, but it seems to iis that consumption has still the upper; hand, and as ma efforts'^ are being made by spinners and manufacturers" to' run 'their machinery ? there is little likelihood of prices easing at all. We find the greatest slackness at the combing end of the tradp, some firms not employing more than' a good half the sorters that they did." .twelve months ago. The majority x of.firms--arD. finding, work for no more than two-thirds of their sorters, and they •' will have to secure bigger ( weights of raw material if even these are to be kept going for the next six months.

MAZAMJ-rr SKIN WOOLS. It 'is- rather significant that during the last three months pulled wools from Mazamet have received more attention, than. ever. Bradford has been a persistent buyer, , and has . taken above its usual quantity. Still, when the principal importers have found a ready sale among our own topinakevs as well as to American firms, they felt justified m buying alLthey could put their hands upon. With quietness coming over the Bradford market, a few firms have held 'their hand, but no sooner than Bradford "retired than Roubaix to^makers have begun,, and we hear on the best authority that big weights have been purchased for the French trade during the past week. This is precisely what happened m 19^3. During the first three months of that y<?ar, when trade m Bradford was so good, big weights of Mazamet wool were bought for England, bat when the Bradford trade quietened, ana the need for --such wool diminished, the* French buyers practically took the Mjizamet iu'arket into-their own hands, and operated there almost as largely as the English had done immediately before.. Mazamefc seems to have special: ised in 1 the pulling of sheepskins, atid no doubt local conditions favor this class of operations. ( However much some people may rail against the use of skin wools, yet as long as the world lasts it v^ill have to be dealt with, for m the universal demand for mutton, sheep will have to be killed, and the skin is too valuable a commodity to beleft untouched. When really good skin wool is used, tops should spin fairly .well, although naturally they will not produce that line, soft handle or spinning, quality which a top possesses when made entirely from ..fleece wool. Still Mnzamet- skin wools are being largely supported ; they are serving a good purpose, and will continue.' to bought m bit weights. Below we furnish particulars, showing the quantities which have been shippejd to England and other centres from . MTazamet during the past year, and as practically all homo trade purchases com© to Bradford, it will be seen. that this is an important market for its' sales:— England, 29*700 bales, 35 per -cent..; North of ijYance ' (Roubaix, Tourcoing, Rheims, etc.), 26,800 bales, 31£ per cent. ; Germany, 8,600 bales, 10 per' cent. ; Russia 4 7200 bales, 8£ per cent. ; other countries, 12,700 bales, 15 per cent. ; total, 85,000 .bales. . PRIDES STEADY. The past weok has. not shown very much change m the course of the market. We hardly think that business has/ been so scarce as last week, some toprriakers reporting a little, more inquiry. Still, there is not the healthiness .abjtmt the. situation that one would like to see, , and it is .noteworthy that the most activity yet seems to prevail m the North of France, Bradford lagging, behind. We find topmakers very firm indeed m thSir attitude, and "firmer m their quotations than a week ago. Merind combers are very firm and confident, and even crossbred topmakers appear to be less disposed to sell under to-day's .rate's. Spinners* are asking for fair • weights of tops "to be delivered on old contracts, but it is natural that wheiV they have cheap tops to come m they' .will not pay what topmakers are wanting to-day. Tlie chief difficulty seems to he with, the spinner. To sell yarns on today's prices seems to be "almost an impossibility. We understand that there are some fair weights, of second-hand yarns still on offer, and both m 'crosabreds land Botanies, spinners say that they ought to bo able to. buy 'tops at Id less than on the prices they have offered for years. .Somehow ' Bradfprd seems at present to have got into n rather bad vein. Outside spinners and manufacturers, particularly French, have' no doubt secured the dress uoods trade, and therefore local 'spinners are having tin uphill task to make tilings fit. There is room no doubt for a market! improvement, but the strength of the raw material is holding things together m a very encouraging way, and we kno.w of further important business pending on American account. The latter market is still an important one, and we believe when the* exports are declared 'for the month of March it will be seen, that a big weight of business has been done. HAS TOO MUCH BEEN MADE OF FRANCE'S COLONIAL PURCHASES?- ;, ' During the recent Australian -selling season wo hay© not ceased to hear reports of how France was buying hand, over fist,v taking more wool than she did a year ago, while other countries have taken less. Nearly the same news has come from. La Plata and the Capo, and many firms m Bradford are wishing they had . act* d m company With France. It is being pointed out that whereas m Bradford, 'Belgium, -. Germany and tho United States 'vool is scarce, .it is going into Franco or is there already m large quantities. . If we carefully consider the situation, there is no great reason for thinking the French trade will be much better off, for merino wool at least, than the English during the next six months. Last year, up to about the middle of March, tho average weight of tops conditioned (and therefore sold) m Roubaix-Toiir-coing was 900.000 kilos per week. During the second week, of March this year 1.800,000 kilos were conditioned, and on the whole it may be asserted that roughly twice the weight of tops tested last year have been tested this," that is, for corresponding periods. ! Combing ebtablishhtents nro running day and night, and have been for several months, and yet the consumption of tops equals their total output. Germany is buyiivr from France, so is Belgium, bo is Italy. > ' England has taken a certain amount, and so have the United States. As regards wool, noj> much French wool bought overseas has yet come to England, but wo know for a fact that no small weights have been sent to Germany. Turning again to the present consumption of tops m the Roubaix-Tourcoing tcade, it is estimated by a good authority that over 22,000,000 kilos will have been conditioned by the end of March. This approximately equals 48,4OO,O0Olb!5,

or 390,000 bales of greasy wool, Australian »iz«. If France's purchases are being used. up at such a rate (400,000 bales m three months), it is fairly evident that her increased buyings "m tile colonies and La Plata are not going to stnrid for much.

SENSIBLE RISE IN , SHEEPSKINS. A two days' sale of. colonial woolled «heepskins has been held iv Coleman Street this week!* • and a further important rise has taken plaeu The following are the advances: — Merino, full and three-quarter-woolled £d to Id per 1b dearer ; half -wool led id to £d; short and shorn .- to ; crossbred, fine, full and three-quarter-woolled £d to Id ; coarse, full, • and three quarter- woolled id to %A \ half-woolled id to id ; short luid shorn to |d ; lambs, id to {d per lb dearer.