ENGLISH WOOL MARKET.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 16120, 8 May 1923, Page 10

ENGLISH WOOL MARKET.

CROSSBRED CONSUMPTION INCREASING. (From Our Special Correspondent;)

BRADFORD, March 7.—0il the whole the position in this market, is -slightly better, and in spite of the untoward factors which are still admittedly operating upon the market, there is now less prospect of any serious fall in values than seemed likely a short time ago. Raw material values are keeping unexpectedly steady, the slight depreciation seen at Hull and l more recently at Liverpool amounting to very little in view of the sustained' demand which is being experienced, and particularly taking into consideration the source from which that demand) has chiefly come. For the time being traders in Bradford are to a large extent holding their iiand in anticipation of the opening of the London sales, and the general tenor of the Bradford market combined 1 with information contained’ in the latest cables from the Colonies, indicates that there is not going to be any further serious slump. Considered) from the purely local standpoint, the outlook in the wool market has been improved by the elimination of some of the weak sellers who have recently been responsible for the little prices recently accepted for tops. A fair amount of buying has been done by large firms, this resulting in the stock of cheap tops being considerably reduced, and standard qualities are now held 1 at pence per lb. more than they could have been bought a week ago. From this it is plainly evident that leading firms entertain no small measure of confidence respecting the, future. For some time, values for top 3 and! yam in Bradford have been substantially below their cost, in the raw material, this centre standing entirely alarm in this respect. The future of merinos appears to he remarkably sound, and l it only needs such an influx of new business as would) be made possible by more settled! trading conditions on the Continent. in- atotabTioh il>io r lll-'ibiy of wool and tops on a very firm 'basis. Though there are some compensating features, of which the purchases of tops on Japanese account is an example, film net result of the Continental disturbance is that Bradford is losing trade, and! this has been more responsible than anything elce far the easier tendency which has recently developed, but behind' it, all t hero has been a strong undertone of confidence in both fine* and coarse wools. With regard to the latter, it is quite possible that these will continue to sell at the slightly lower range of values recently established, the* influence of America on these being for the time being somewhat doubtful. Though there is scarcely enough business being done on actual consumptive account, in any quality of tops* to afford an actual test, values are now on a' safe footing. The yarn trade is quic(., and! the absence of particulars has created some* uneasiness. Export sides are largely suspended' for the time being, but the majority of spinners are of the opinion that demand! will be shortly renewed, and for this reason arc not prepared to accept any concessions on their prices. THE LIVERPOOL SALE. Though another series of London sales has now commenced 1 , the auctions held at Liverpool last Thursday and Friday are still of sufficiently recent date to deserve some comment, particularly in view of the course of prices and the character of the competition. The most surprising feature was the active buying on Continental account, for even German representatives look a share of the offerings. Continental buyers very largely had the field to themselves, a- considerable proportion of the wools sold to that section 'of tho trade being taken by Franco, Belgium making a good 1 second. A fair amount of buying was also done by America, and the home trade has to be placed last on the list in the order of the quantities gold to the various consuming districts. Though French and other Continental buyers might halve been expected! to have been much more reticent than was actually the case, it is a remarkable fact that for the time being machinery on the Continent and in other parts of the world is more active than in the West Riding. At the* same time, the fact that the position of the raw material, as exemplified at Hull and Livernool, is inherently soiund. speaks well, for the general outlook, andl it only needk the removal of the present obstacles on the Continent to set the wheels of progress fully moving. This, however, is a pretty stiff proposition.

With regard to the character of the offerings) at Liverpool and! the movement of value®, it may he said that of the wool stored 1 at Manchester a considerable proportion consisted) of merino, including representative! New England! lines, but also includin a large weight of short, Continental style wools. These were of no use whatever for the home trade. Good combing merinos sold at prices fully equal to those current at the finish of the last London auctions, but the shabby carbonising lines were generally about 5 j)ei* cent, cheaper. If a greater depreciation had been shown, no surprise would 1 have been felt, and credit must be given to Continental buyers for the way in which they absorbed 1 the inferior merinos. The West Australian greasy merinos consisted entirely of pieces and bellies. Some' good_ Sydney combing wools were shown at Liverpool, and 1 the New England clothing included some exceptionally good lots. The market for crossbreds was irregular, hut many of the lots were very heavy in condition, owing to having been in the shorn state since 1919. The absence of bloom in these wools told' distinctly against them. The decline was only about 5 per cent in fine and coarse qualities and 7i to 10 per cent, in medium qualities. CONTINENTAL COMPETITION IN LONDON. The second series of London sales commenced on Tuesday, the quantity catalogued for the whole period being over 200,000 bales. Under such circumstances as now exists in the West Hiding this is quite as much as is likely to ho absorbed readily, and it is expected, that the sales will ho curtailed unless

there is a much better demand as the auctions proceed, than was originally expected. A fairly full account lias already been given qi the position of the trade in the West Riding, where manufacturers are being seriously handicapped by the competition of Continental firms, whose rate of exchange is so favorable for the importation of goods into this country that cloth is being bought from them at much lower prices than manufacturers at home can afford to accept. It is fortunate, however, from the raw material point of view that Yorkshire is not the only competitor upon which the stability of prices depends, and it has been observed thus for at the London series that though representatives from home and l Continental centres have been present in largo numbers, the demand has chiefly come from the latter, French buyers operating very freely. There is no doubt that if anything like pre-war conditions prevailed, Continental firms would) be absorbing a much large quantity of wool, which bespeaks a very good future for the raw material, providing there could l lie anything like a reasonable resumption of normal activity. It cannot, be denied that but for the influence of the Continent, prices for fine wool would, show a. considerable fall. The home trade is under no immediate necessity to buy largo quantities, and they arc also aware that before many!Weeks have passed 1 , there will be another opportunity to buv at Hull and Liverpool. COURSE OF PRICES. In view of the foregoing facts, the opening of the series must) be regarded as very satisfactory. Good combing merinos have sold at prices which are very little, if any, below those paid' in January, whilst faulty and* medium merinos have only depreciated about 5 per cent. It is l quite true that in several instances the limits put on merinos were substantially higher than anyone in the room was prepared to pay, the result being that some withdrawals took place’, but even this is an indirect confirmation of the general opinion respecting merino values. Whilst it is admitted that users are under na immediate necessity to buy, it is also known that the prospective supplies of fine wool are not equal to the aggregate consumption during the past twelve months, and l apparently it only need's the development of actual consumptive needis and 1 a freer movement at the manufacturing end l of the trade to establish confidence as strong as ever. The low prices recently accepted for fine tops have dbne something to undermine confidence, the imDression having been set on foot that the first step had been taken in a genera! downward 1 tendency. It is very doubtful indeed, however, whether this will be realised; in fact all the best evidence points in the opposite direction. Crossbred* have become somewhat cheaper. The reduction in good) fine sorts is insignificant, but ordinary fine crossbreds are in some cases about 5 per cent, cheaper, though other lots have soldi without any reduction. Medium and 1 coarse crossbred's are 5 to 10 per cent, cheaper. One' thing which is distinctly in favor.of crossbreds is that the consumption of this' class of raw material is increasing. The fall, such as it is,. is due to American competition not being as strong as in January.