SHILLING A POUND

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18256, 27 November 1933, Page 6

SHILLING A POUND

AUCKLAND WOOL PRICES ALL HOPES EXCEEDED MARCH VALUES DOUBLED HALFBRED REALISES 25;]d (Pur Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day. The first wool sale of the Dominion season opened this morning. The ottering comprised nearly 24,000 bales, mostly crossbred, in excellent condition. The first catalogue revealed strong buying, and the most sanguine expectations were exceeded. The prices realised we.ro from two to 2’4 times higher than March prices.

Most of the bidding was done by half-a-dozen principal Bradford and Continental buyers. The limits seemed to bo elastic, but tins Dominion mills refused to be outbid for fine wools, and they secured the well-known Waiheke clip, five bales of halfbred, at 253 d, against 12ld last year. A. line of Southdowns brought 22. pl against 9fd a year ago.

The advance in prices covered all classes of wool offered. Pieces realised up to Is, bellies up to 9d, crutc.liings up lo 6d, and crossbred hoggets up to 14(1. It, was estimated after the first catalogue, had boon disposed of that it would average .over Is per lb.

From the outset of the sale, it was evident that there had been a complete change in the. wool market. The doleful record of the slump period was broken, and the change of atmosphere was akin to a spiritual awakening at a revival meeting, as the buyers vied witii one another to obtain a commodity which, only 12 months ago, was almost spurned. There were about 75 buyers, but it was very noticeable that less than a dozen old most of tlie buying. There was, generally speaking, no excitement. Bidding would start quietly with a figure well up to brokers’ valuations, only to be raised Jjd or j,-d a time until the lot was sold at a figure of 3d or 4d above the initial bid.

An incident almost unprecedented occurred when the five bales of Wnibeke Island clip was put up. The representative of a well-known New Zealand firm responded to every challenge, and secured the lot at 25Jd per lb. There was spontaneous applause from the whole of the, big buying bench, and it echoed from the spectators’ gallery. The Auckland clip chiefly comprises Romney and Romney cross, with a limited amount of Southdown, Ryeland, Corriedale, and halfbred. There was general commendation of the quality of the wool. Is wool-raising profitable on to-day’s prices? The question is hard to answer, owing to the varying prices of land and other factors, but assuming that farmers’ costs have fallen in the, past two years it is quite likely that many farmers will be glad to continue wool production if they could be sure of maintenance of today’s prices. There appeared to be no decrease of Hie spirit of determined buying as Hie later catalogues were put under the hammer. A later estimate of the average price is between lOd and Is per lb. HARDLY JUSTIFIED THE RISE AT AUCKLAND BRAD FORD COMPARISOX The extent of the, rise in wool values at Auckland as reported in to-day’s telegram is hardly justified, when compared with rates ruling at Bradford. Wool sold at the Auckland sale last March averaged out at less than 4d per lb, and -if the early expectations of an average times better than this is realised wool will be worth, on an average, nearly lOd per lb to Auckland growers, and slightly more to Gisborne growers. On London values, average Gisborne fleece wool would not be worth as much as this. London quotations a week ago gave 48.50’5, a line wool so far as Gisborne is concerned, an average of about 10d, 46/48’s B{d> and 44/46’s ?£-d to 7fd. Comparing the rise at Auckland with that at Bradford since last March, it is seen that Bradford tops quotations are. only about 50 per cent, higher, while it is reported that Auckland values are 2£ times greater. The last Auckland sale was on March 27, and on March 30, 40’s tops were quoted from Bradford at Bd. Last week’s quotation was 11-jd, while 46’s have risen from 9ld to 13 d. The following table shows the difference, between Bradford tops quotations on March 30 and those on November 23: . ' ; l ) j j j ! | | ,

The Auckland clip is described as the best for many years. The winter was an excellent one, and those is no sign of moisture in the wool. The catalogue included some clips that had been held over from past seasons, and, on account of stains and discoloration, was not expected to realise as much as new sea* son’s of the same type.

Mar. 30 Nov.23 d d Seventies ::: ::: 1! 384 Sixty-fours 374 Sixties 21 35 Fifty-sixes 17i 254 Fifties 114 184 Forty-sixes ... 94 13 Forties 8 Hi Recent And land values and total realisations at Auckland sales are shown below 1 Bale Total 1929-30— £ s d £ ! November . 15 9 2 238,125 I February .. 10 3 1 146,494 ■ March .. 8 18 10 114,098 £498,717 ! 1930-31 — i November .. 6 13 2 100,758 i January .. 5 13 5 74,898 . March .. 9 6 10 143,150 I £323,806 1931-32— November 7 5 10 103,131 January .. 6 11 1 .121,253 March .. 5 7 3 86,419 £310,803 1932-33— December .. 5 12 3 132,118 January .. 6 17 1 148,451 March 5 3 2 61,318 £341,887