COMMERCIAL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18282, 28 December 1933, Page 3

COMMERCIAL

REGULARITY IN WOOL VALUES GENERALLY IMPROVED EARNINGS SYDNEY, Dec. 22. Messrs. Winchcombe, Larson, Limited, report'! “Over 60 i>er cent, oi the wool which will bo available ior sale in Australia this season has now been sold at rates showing an average advance Oi fully 80 per cent., compared with the result, secured for the preceding season s lolip. ’Prospects point, to the balance of the year’s wool changing hands at the enhanced figures wfiieli have given such a welcome change to the earning power of the flocks of the Commonwealth. . “The wool sales have never provided a more current, relative scale oi rates for merinos and the finer crossbreds than those recently ruling. All classes of them have shared in the much appreciated figures. The wools which were changing hands at the most depressed prices in preceding seasons have shown a, greater percentage advance than the bettor types. When wool was more plentiful good improvement in the more attractive types was from timo to time experienced, but inferior drought-affected lines did not benefit to the same degree as other lines. That was unfortunate, because, actually, the sheepowners who had suffered drought wanted the money most. Some of the autumn-shorn wools sold in June in Sydney two seasons ago only produced 4s to 5s gross per head. Inferior classes oi the staple grown under indifferent seasonal conditions have produced more than twice those returns this season, and results ranging from 12s to 15s and, in cases, over 16s per sheep have been secured for the more attrae-

live classes. “Sheep, iu addition, are generally worth twice the money they were realising. At the height of the depression and when the pastures were in poor order, the spectaole was seen of old ewes selling at 6d to Is 6d per head, and in areas remote from markets even wethers were only realising those rates. The stock could, therefore, be regarded as practically valueless. It is safe, to say that the aged ewes quoted are worth 7s to 9s to-day in New South' Wales, and are consequently an asset in place of being an encumbrance, j “The sale of wool has not been dependent upon special activity in any one particular country as was frequently the case iu previous years. Yorkshire lias ' certainly been a tower of strength in competition at the sales, but competition has latterly displayed decidedly .satisfactory distribution, all consuming countries operating freely. Indications all favor the opinion that the remainder of the clip will lind eager purchasers, because the improved demand results from the combination of reduced snp- ■ plies and expanding trade in woollen goods. “The prices being secured for the clip are apt to convey the impression in the Commonwealth that values are on dangerously high levels. Though, on a greasy basis, catalogues in Australian currency have averaged 163 d, or about 8d above the level of December, 1932, the influence of exchange rates in the rise should not be overlooked. The advance in English currency is approximately 6d, and in Continental countries on a gold basis, 4d. In terms of gold wool lias not, on the average, been selling at quite pre-war basis. The sale of wool cortainly depends upon the freedom and the price at which textiles can be sold; but as far as the actual cost of the raw material to consumers abroad is concerned its enrrent price- cannot be regarded as being on an over-risky, excessive level. I “The Sydney sales reopen on Tuesday,! January 2.”