OUR ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 14050, 21 July 1916, Page 1

OUR ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

WILL THE E&OLISH CLIP "BEAR" NEW ZEALAND WOOLS'/ (From Our Special* Correspondent.) LONDON, May 25. The wool trade of Europe at the present time "seems to be worked on the license system. Exports of ' wool and wool goods iv any form/are jirdhibited from Great Britain except' m a few casesi to Allies, the most notable exception to this being the fact that any kind of clothing except khaki can be exported to France. Our Ally enjoys freer trade m this respect with us than any ' other country, that is not a colony. Italy has also laid restrictions on the export of -all kinds of wool and wool goods, aiid only the very lightest ■ fabrics Can be exported, but even these need a license. Norway and Sweden and the 'northern' countries are also "at the band end" foi wool and wool goods, and for many months 'exp'br't has been forbidden, m some cages : entirely, afid m .others /except' by licence. Spaitf also litis nn r ah sofute embargo on the export of :_vm6l,, with " the ; "result that several kinds of Spanish 'produce which used to" be 'sold m? Bradford are now almost ' undbtainible. Supplies of Ma'zamet wool )n. Bradford have been , extreniely small luring; -the course of the wiiiy. so .mucli ?o that quotations, have been uhobtaiiiible'jroih most/of the regular dealers, Fhis again i'^'due to the fact that France lias 'allowed no wool to lie exported,' al:h6ugh;we hear that quite recently the argest Bradford factor has been successful m securing a license -for a few months to import skin Svtfbl 'from Mazane't and has put a large amount of capital into the raw material. IA regard to our. own country,- we have to, report that during; the ' past week, •hat is to say since -'the faceting of the -epresehtativfes from every wool centre if the country With the "Vy'ar Trade De- ' oartment'at "W&stminster, a few licenses lave' been given out. Tlie proceedings ' ast week at the meeting itftere to be lotisidefed Confidential; but it is freely •hmored' that the Government have prac- ( tically decided to take / a census of all , the wool stocks m this country. ,'This s good policy, and is sure to give them ( i iar better' idea of what licenses to ; jrant. Nobody expects; that America '. vill get miich, and no doubt sora^ of i America's purchases of New Zealand \ srdssbreds will, be resold iri the London . iiarket/ at least that is what is looked "or.- Last week-end's meeting was the irst of a series of monthly ones, by yhich the wool committee yin London •opes to keep m close touch with con- ' litiohs m the trade. The licenses granted < lave been chiefly for the expert to " trainee of dry-combed merino tops, i nerino noils, afeld small freights of cross- < ired yarns, although there are still mod- i •rate weights of dry-combed tops ' 'and " hanifold hosiery y'amk bifered by ex- ] Dort houses who have been unable to get ( lermissibn io ship. Still, the actual j veiglit of dry-combed tops on this mar- i .et has diminished sensibly during 'the 1 )ast,' week, and whereas at the -time 6*! j writing our last letter a good dry-comb- : id 1 64's or 70|s was worth no more than 1 i similar quality m oil,, we have heard : hat- 4s Id has been made for a 'dry- -,; :ombed top of the former quality/ while ; ip to the present, so : far as we ■ are : iware, no sales of tops m oil have btcn ■ nade at more than 4s. / v EXTREMELY STRONG MARKET. This price has., come to be regarded as the standard quotation for 64's, r-nd topmakers are by no means ready sillers. There is a good* deal of talk about tbe soundness of to-day's values, and i.o me expects lower prices for some time to come, either m merinos or crossbreds. •spinners naturally' are not eager bu/ers it such a level, but- still they have to keep taking a few small' weights wl en they cannot get delivery df old contracts. If these old contracts were delivered' to/date one might almost- sa/ that •'business m merino - tops, instead cf , being just quiet, .would be almost extinct. Tlie lat-ge makers expect .thatyin London ntexjb week there will be a further advance iri merino wool, although there' seems 'to' be' no real sound reasofi for it. Out of many " lots, -of/lasb •sßies': \ydol, good. 70' s tops would cost 1 52 d; ;n..d 54*W anywhere from 47d to '49d. : it certainly seejiis as if from the •Upihakers'' point of view more - money « ughl not to he -paid ;.-.'• it-, is -remarkable ihn\. is not the same pressure to-day m getting merino wool- combed as tlMtre was a couple of y months • but cbhibers are very independent, indeed and will only treat the -best raw i;iAtrri&l.- The operatives threaten to strike n they are told to scour and comb buny wool, and labor is ' s6; -hca'tee tu-d'.ly tl.at the employer is to a -far . greater extent than ever before at tlie nicicy of lis employees. ' This week the -IhternavoiTat Society oi' Woolcombers had a iW?« i i.v to cc;rsider the recoihmendtitioii "f the Home Office tliat women should be a) lowed lo : work bntl^e night tuiTi. The ,'• proposal was to pay them the 'same rite as men, Hind they should have special conveniences ri,s regards., food and comfort. AH 'the'' men' and half the women voted against the proposal, which w»js rejected' and a war bonus of 5s weekly was demanded. There , has been a very good demand recently for merino noils, wliich 1 have advanced smartly to the extent of 2d. or more during the past fortnight. France is again likely to be interested, seeing that a. few -licenses have: been ' granted, although applications for these had been sent in/to the War Trade Department six weeks or ' more ago. Russia* too has participated m, the buy. AMfiiiltGSAN - EXPORTING. COMBINE. -'■The title of, the latest .society m the wool traders, the "Association of English and Colonial Wool Exporters to the United States from the United Kingdom." .Under this lonjfr and imposing title chief- firms interested iir. the export of wool to America have , united 'm order to act as an official representative body to the War Trade •Department .on all matters appertaining; to their particular exjport trade, and- to, 'circulate. , all/information received from . that -department quickly and efficiently to members. I Anyone interested m .tlie, export; of wobl across ' tire' Atlantic. 'is eligible ,f or mem : Bership; the' Subscription being half a giiiilea per head. • '.'•'"; " SELLING . At th'e present time' in BradfojHl quite a large, sectioii of the trade is interested m what is happening m the country. The section , referred ;to is composed', of diealers m and users of English wools. Dtu-ing the present week a few small clips have" been bought m Ireland, these being the first of a new season's wool, though tlie large sales do not begin until next month. There will also be numerous sales commencing at the beginning of June m the southern counties of England, and a week or two later the sheep of the northern districts will also have to bevshorn. The country sales as a rule last until the beginning of September, the Bristol fnir«being tlie hist important fixture. In this respect the English clip is marketed m a manndr different from that practised; m Australia and New, Zealand. The New* Zealand method of holding sales at centres like Dunedin, Ihyercai'gill, ' Christchurch, and several others is closest m resemblance to ours m this country, but m Kent alone for instance — a country that is not more than 40 miles long —

v 3":_XmT'w. ."«?.- -/ ■* *~ there are Ihrce or four at different places. Of course, buyers come round tn the farmers m this country just as they do m the Colonies, being ready to lake wool on the sheep's back ov as it lies at the farm instead of waiting until it is put up at the sales, but as a rule most of the big fawners, jirefer to wait for the public auctions. xlt might be interesting for some readers to know j that very' often buyers are entertained m a public house previous to the sale opening, the auctioneers and farmers hoping by this means to get better prices. OUTLOOK FOR .WOOL 'PRICES. Tlie English flocks to-day . number about 29 million sheep, and with such a weight of wool coming on the market all between. 28V and 56's quality, many are asking what will, happen to values of New Zealand crossbreds? one can prophesy that they will fall very far, if any:/ Perhaps, next week m London some "attempt will be made to get them at the lowest level, and since last series business m low and medium qualities has no doubt been very quiet. We understand that several firms m the heavy woollen, district are open to take these crossbreds, .but there is nothing like a strong demand. ' This will help English dealers, who are always m fa;vour of a free market m Bradford when the new. clip is- sold. We. .do. hot expect licences to be granted for the export of either English wool oV Colonial crossbreds, because this wpujd "send prices up m this • country . eveii if . the powerful reason of our own needs 'was -nan-existent. The outlook for merinos seehis even stronger. We have ho 'means of estimating the consumption of English mills, similar to that of United States writers who say that Lawrence and iVsaie mills alone nre consuming;, about 275 million pounds per. year. 'Still, spinners have plenty oi' work m hand, and unless Australia doubles her production, there sepnis to oe no reason why wool values should fall. No one can give any sound reason- even for carbonising wools easiu£, and ' wa hear of :good superior secured Port 'P/hillip 70\s being sold at 47d m Bradford this week.