ENGLISH WOOL MARKET.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15229, 29 May 1920, Page 9

ENGLISH WOOL MARKET.

CROSSBRED BAW MATERIAL ATTRACTING MOKE ATTENTION (From Our Special Correspondent t BRADFORD, March 24. ' Following the advance m the price of wool which has taken, place m London the top market has made a most distinct advance, quotations . partibularly for merino and fine crossbred qualities being on :a distinctly higher .basis. Unfortunately there is np. improvement m the out-! put of tops from the combs, and this,! along with the fact that a large weight' of business haa already been accepted, and>. that recent prices for tops needed' some revision m order to bring them on,' to a level with the . cost of the raw i material, indicates that values' for fine ; qualities are likely to be very fully mbin-! tamed for nn . almost indefinite period. The fact is that even -at the higher rates quotations are largely protective. No doubt the .expectation of the : restrictions on the export of- tops ajid;yarn being re- i moved has had,something to do with the; free movement of the raw material,; thovigh operations on French account m medium merinos, have influenced values. considerably. Medium ana low qualities; of tops also show a stronger tone, though! they 'have not advanced m price to the same 1 extent as finer qualities, and more business has been.done m the former than . seemssto be .generally admitted. ( Now business m yarn continues to bo offered m considerable volume, and tho faqt that spindles ,are already very fully occupied has-resulted m spinners' quotations being further advanced, for 2-48's out of a 64's top are ndw quoted, around 20s per lb. American, Japanese and other markets are all interested, and there is not the slightest .doubt that if the output wore to be considerably augmented it would all be absorbed with the greatest ease r . . • : - Noils and wastes are still comparatively quiet, the comment.being frequently made that during the past two to three months tho interest shown m these commodities have been far from being as strong as m tops and yarn. The opinion is, however, that there is no need to give anything way, fine qualities of noils being specially regarded as good stock. 1 REMARKABLY, STRONG TENDENCY .IN MERINO. WOpL. / Another Series 4 of of Colonial wool held m London' ib now almost finished, and m that centre a remarkable state of affairs haaUeen -revealed, particularly m l'elation to merino qualities.- French and homo trade buyers have been large operators, France : having been largely • responsible for forcing the pace. This is remarkable .m view of the fact that the rate of exchange l.•' has ■ not become more favorable, and .it is no exaggeration to • say: that this Bection of the trade has purchased more wool than at any previous sales held since 1919, and. when it is considered that French dry :combed tops have been finding a ready market not only m thjs country, America and Jfapan, there is really no causa for surprise. Reference has already been made to the with- 1 drawal of export restrictions,, it -being known on very good authority that it is ! now possible to export tops and yarn to any destination without license. The advance m al^ qualities of., merino wool is at least 15 per cent., due as already stated 'to the interest shown by France. American buyers have been m the background because only a limited quality of wool suitable for their purpose has been available. It seems to be impossible to satisfy' the demand for good combing merinos,, a fact which is not easily explained m view of the restriction of output from combing mechinery. Melbourne scoured merino combing has touched 13l£d, and more than 100 has often been realised for the same class of New South Wales wool. Greasy wools havo frequently made more than 90d per lb. For the time < being all anticipations of • a more reasonable scale of- values coming into force for tho raw material are completely discounted, for the,rise m merinos is not confined' to the best sorts, but extends to medium and inferipr classes. If Colonial growers can only comprehend the real significance of the present position of tho wool market. • the writer feels convinced that they'will: have no desire to see wool sold m any. other way than m a free market where, all buyers are at liberty to take what they want. Tho law of supply and depiand is justifying itself to the utmos.t, at 'least from a growers' point, of' view/ for even if they Jiave not been taking to .themselves all the benefit of the prices now being realised m London they may take it for granted that the mere renioval of control at the be--ginning" of .rioxt, season will not m itself avert' an ■ adverse influence. All that is needed is for adequate shipping facilities to be provided and for; the output from the machinery at" this'end to be augment--ed m order that, the world's tremendous needs may ;l at least be partially supplied. To talk of coverings all these needa m a short time is to. suggest the impossible. CROSSBREDS DEARER. Tho feature of tho sales is the new turn of "events m crossbreds. Fine qualities of this-description have, been, all right ever since the auctions were To-opened, but anything below 50's has had anything but a fortunate experience until the current' sales commenced.- Tho position, to-day is that prices, for sO's-,and -bolo.w have advanced "quite 5 per cent. France is taking larger quantities, as also- are home trade buyers, the lower qualities moving yvifch comparative freedom. Unfortunately tho disturbance m Germany seems to put that market out of court, at least expectations of developing business hi crossbreds with that partj of *he world- a|e for the time being. iapoiM^r ■Oiffiu'tuhately for the population m Germany the influences operating m that country tend for anything except the development of business on sound lines. The recovery m crossbreds is not confined to greasies, for an advance has taken place m scoureds and slipes. Good sUpe half bred New Zealand lambs which .would' have made no more 'than 53d at the^lafcfcsalo'Care now realis-/ ing up to 59d, and greasy Geelbng comcbafeks up td'.sßd. '■ ; , 1 j