OUR ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13973, 20 April 1916, Page 8

OUR ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

EXCELLENT OFFERINGS OF GREASY CROSSBREDS. ' (From Oar Special Cbrrenpondent.) LONDON,' March 2, 1916. So far as merinos ' are concerned, tlie opening of this series was very much as jt used to be two or three months ago, there being no large offerings of good wools. There Avas an excellent show of j crossbreds, but spinners and topmakers who patronise merino sorts did not find a wide range of choice. The selection improved on' later days, several very' good clips, being offered. Onco more West Australian wools have been well to < the fore,, considerable weights having sold at around 17£ dto 19d to the homo trade, these wools going both to' toipmakers and direct . to spinners and niariuf acturers. There have been one or two lots of superior West Victorian wools offered, and also some good wool from New South Wales. South. Australia has been practically unrepresented, while greasy- Queensland clips, though they have realised up to Is 6d or -Is 7d, have not made what could be truthfully called an attractive show, having been mostly short, <iusty' and frequently tender.^' There has been .a notable lack of slipes, a few scrappy lots, mostly second-hand, having constituted the whole offerings. This*, howeveiv has been well compensated B,y the extra weights of greasy crossbreds available, among which some really good clips have been submitted. Thero are 35,000 bales, of Now. ZeaJand wools reported available for this series, and up to the present there haft been an excellent selection.

... CHECK OR DECLINE? Competition has been very largely confined to the homo trade. America is doing nothing for the simple reason that no license can be secured, though there, aye good reasons for expecting that a fo v will be granted lor merinos m one- or two special cases after the lapse of two or three weeks. Up to the present the Continent, Rusaia excluded, has bought; next to nothing, both France and Italy being very quiet. Russia has jifiain c6ntinued to buy goo.d superior scoured merinos, paying up to '3s 2d for. good Queensland sorts, and is now operating through two -brokers instead of .one,, a large Moscow concern having its own buyers here. On the opening night both buyers and sellers were anxious. Everybody expected some decline, but nobody would attempt to prophesy how much.' The news from Melbourne received a week as?o to the effect that that market was 10 per cent, down had destroyed confidence, m spite of the fact; that, many people believed it untrue. Howeyer, the first day's sale saw a general easing all .round of Id to Ifd, practically the only avools which jnainlained last sales' •prjces being superior scoured merinos, "for these; both 'Russia : and the home, trade were keen operators, the latter paying from 2s 6d to 2* lid fairly freely. Even superior Cape snow whites have realised up to 3s for the home trade. These super excellent wools were the only kinds to maintain January ratas, and both m crossbreds and merinos a fall of Id to l£d must be chronicled; Some consider that, on average merinos and all faulty qualities the fall is 2d, and certainly comparisons of some clips yfith what they made last series occasionally "bear .this but. The (Wmoo' Goonoo : -clip from New South Wales, - realised Is 10d against Is lid for. the same description last series. A clip' that" is * usually bought by manufacturers because of its superior style. tho' S: Wilson/Mt. Bute wools which made the : record .for greasy fleece m January of 2s 3^., 'only realised up to 2s this" week, several lots being withdrawn. In scoured merinos also declines of Id; to. l'Jl-d have been experi-

enced. ' Withdrawals have not "been so numerous as would have been expected, and wool is not yet being given away by any means. Owners .-show a creditable disposition, to let all their average produce go, although, what would have sold at ; 15£ ! last sales is to-day only fetching about 14d. For the best wools, however, they are sticking out for their price. ■■■■■. '■••■'■■.•■ GOOD SHOW OF GREASY CROSS^ BREDS. ' There has been the best show of new clij> New Zealand crossbreds. seen m London this year, though the total offering is by no means large. It would he almost, invicleous to single -out any special clips, but mention should be made of the Wharepapa/CM mnrk. The first lot 1 of this was a good 50's quality wool, and give the splendid yield of 75 pof cent., although the average yield for this quality is nearer 65. In addition to this it showed splendid length/. and wo are. inclined' 10 think the owners would be disappointed with the price of ] s 9£d. If such wool had. been available last sales it would have realised Is lid, or even moves The second lot of 46's quality would yield 78 per cent, and made 1» 9d, and a, third lot of^ the same fineness with a- slightly worse yield, made Is Bd. These must be considered reasonable wools. There have been practically 110 New Zealand tscoureds offered, and next to ] no slices." Bids on these wools are generally l£d or sometimes more bejow those of last series, and owners are not willing sellers, a moderate proportion of the few lots offered being withdrawn. v i Everybody is discussing the qnestion whether this is d distinct fall or merely a eheck'to priqes to give' the. trade a breathing space. No one believes the market will stay where it is. It will either get worso or recover. The present state of things is too irregular and uncertain to continue, and if tho first fow days of the. series turn out to be the cheapest, nobody will bo surprised. WHAT HAS CAUSED THE FALL? There is no doubt that the first cause of ' the check is the cable from Melbourns some ten days ago, but there are avidently other reasons more important. Bradfox-d topmakers are by no means m favor; of such frequent sales m London. From the importers' point of 'view*, to-day's .prices are all right, : and even if ' they decline stip further they want tt> move on the' wool to the consumer. M T o understand . #iat at the meeting. o£ the Londbh iniportevs and aelliug brokers only two, voices were raised igainst >. sales at t such early intervals, md from the Bi'a'dfoi'd topmakers' point of view only two series before Easter would have been a much better arfa'rigelinient. Tha present is the time of the year when the financial strain is felt most m the English wool trade. Large imports ; f rom the Colonies have to be 1 .■lnanced and topmakers who are carrying larger stocks than usual would like l o work off some of. these and get their money round again ( 'before being asked to buy. Fop the lowest kinds of crossbreds combing can be obtained almost at once,, but for carding sorts three, to ;four weeks' notice must given j whereas for merinosi it is necessary still \o Arait nearer three months. 'There is :>f course the question of preventing congestion at the docks, and frequent sales give • the warehouse keepers a Setter chance, but 1 some Bradford firms •tay that if they are expected to lift. he present big weights of wool, they •vill only do '' fo at less money. Tho New wool is very welcome, ' though Uiere. is some. anxiety about its arrival, several cargo boats* .being held up m tho Chnnnel a day or two after the regrettable loss of the Mnloja. '.■Of cdursft, cheaper wool-— that is. cros-sbreds— is just what the- Government wants. But even if the raw material come.* cheaper it is oxlrpmcly doubtful, if tlioy wjll he able to buy military ' iaJMca ai less money. They have apparently .'now a' fixed offering price:. of 5s a yard, at M-hich there is no '? ro^ .except ...to the firm, who can buy buy their own wool; make their o\yn yarns from it nnd weave the cloth. If f .opnml;ers' and spinners' nrofiis are to be. --included there, is none for the raantti faoturer at that figniro. We do hot Hear of any mote Government orders actually.. being given out, although there are rumors". . . Another reason for, ,the!i Fall_ has been the fact that ' everybody ' m Bradford is so heavily bought. * Dur- . ng th« buying fever that ended about

.thrf *> or four weeks ago, contracts wave ] entered into lor months ahead, and today users arc anxious. During the last i'ortnight m Bradford there has been a general easing off, and the maximum price possible for a good. 64's to-day is os 7£d io 3s Bd. whereas half way through February 3s 9d was madp. At that time also 40\s prepared tops were quoted at 29J,d, and *small weights actually sold at 29d, whereas to-day they stand at 27£ d. After the opening of the London sales users were even bidding lo.ss prices than these, other qualities m proportion. At. the pi'esent time, with the Conscription Act m force, Jio firm, will buy more than it can work up. At to-day's high prices there is not the faintest trace of good business policy m buying raw material that will have to remain jn that state a. long time before it is resaleable. We mentioned above the necessary notices that must be given for, combing, the topmakers are only afraid that unless more female labor is used m all mill's right through from, combing to manivfacturin/T and dyeing, there will be. a bigger delay than ever m,. putting tho raw material through Hie different processes. It is expected that, soon, the first groups of married men . will, be called rip, and m spite of the /unions-' so strongly objecting to the use of female labor on the night shifts m. Bradford mills, it is expected that this proposed state of things will soon be a fact. THE KMTURC4O AND THE COLONIES. ' Tho final reason for the uncertainty that hangs about to-day's market is the embargo question. As mentioned above the export of a few lots : of- merinosi m special cases may possibly be granted to America. Shipment of crossbreds i? i absolutely prohibited except to .France and Italy, and to these countries only on production of proof :that they are wanted for military purposes. It can also be taken for granted, so we learn from a good ?our(ie this week, that France will be allowed. ti> ' have- her share of 'wool and tops' from this country. The War Trade Department

has _ gone very thoroughly into recent statistics about ihe size* and requirements of French mills, and the supplies they are now having, and it ir. very dear that certain weights must be allowed' to go from this country. Export to French merchants by English merchants will not "be favorably looked upon, we should imagine, but' licenses for goods actually i"i-orn the English topmaker to the French spinner will not be difficult to obtain.

'News Eas just come through that at! Sydney the export of crossbreds has! been prohibited except to C4reat Britain. No one knows here why this was. not dono a. long time ago. \Y 0 do not wish to cast any slight upon tho patriotism of. the Colonies, as this Avo\ild be unwarranted, but moro membors of the wool trade hero than one have recently suggested that tho Colonies moan to have every . fraction of value for their wool, even if they sell to neutrals. Our Government has put on the embargo because it thought; prices Avere too high, fi-nd also because it thought - the Allief. .would need all the wool available, particularly crossbreds. But this* policy is futile unless the Colonies fall 'into line. If America and other countries cannot buy.. here, they will buy m- tho Colonies, with : n. result/ th^ifc owners will offer their wool where there is the best price, and m that way. the English Govern ment will not seciire for itself a pound more than it would have done if it had never put on the embargo m this eountrv at all.

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