WOOL PRICES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18955, 4 March 1936, Page 4

WOOL PRICES

NOT YET PROFITABLE VALUES BELOW NORMAL COMPARISON OF RATES A GISBORNE REVIEW Wool prices are not. yet profitable, despite the 50 per cent, increase in values from those of the past season. This was pointed out to-day by one who controls large station interests in the Gisborne district, in reply to opinions of many who did not know the true position and who believed that the present season's wool prices were high. lie said that many people believed that the present season's wool prices wero back again to a high level, whereas Ihcv were still below normal and not yet' profitable. Sheepfarmiug generally was back to a payable basis this season, but. mainly because of high juices leeeived for breeding ewes and cattle. When considering an advance of 50 per cent, in (be wool values over last season, be added, it bad to be remembered that last, season's 'average price was among the four lowest tor over 50 years, and that was with the advantage of a 25 per cent, exchange, which did not operate 30 years ago. NAPIER, SALF AVERAGES The average price of wool at flic Napier sale last season was £8 13s 10d a bale. The average for seven seasons from 1897-98 to 1903-04 was £7 16s 5d n bale, and this was the lowest average over any period until the years of the present slump. The 1932-33 season produced the lowest average during the present decade with £6 6s 4d, and last year's average represented an advance of about 25 per. cent, on that. The further increase, of 50' per cent, still left values at a low level, compared with the prices on which many farmers operating to-day bought land. The commandeer average for Napier u-ooJs was £23 13s 10d. That was between 1916-17 and 1919-20. Then followed two slump years averaging £8 Us lid per bale, and six seasons with an average of £2l 5s 2d. Eleven pre-war years up to 1914-15 averaged £l3 15s lid.

The average prices per bale quoted above aro taken from the figures of one of the large brokerage ,firms operating extensively in the Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay districts, handling at one period up to 25,000 bales of wool at the Napier sale in a season. Period averages, based on these figures, are shown below :

The peak season was 1924-25, when the average was £sl 8s 3d. The lowest since 1897 was £4 19s 4d in 1901-02.

No. of Per hale Pi eriod seasons £ s cl 1897-98 to 1903-04 7 7 16 5 1904-05 to 1914-15 11 13 15 11 1915-16 1 22 12 4 1916-17 to 1919-20 4 23 13 10 1920-21 to 1921-22 2 8 11 11 1922-25 to 1927-28 6 21 5 2 1928-29 22 6 0 1929-30 13 11 5 1930-31 6 19 7 1931-32 6 16 9 1932-33 6 6 4 1933-34 14 12 3 1934-35 8 1310* 1935-36 (estimated) 12 10 0