New Wool Selling Season Should Start With Good Prospects

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19130, 26 September 1936, Page 13

New Wool Selling Season Should Start With Good Prospects

CIIEAIiLXG- will commence in the (iisborne district next month with the prospect of a satisfactory wool selling season.

Stocks of wool throughout the world are low, confidence is restored, and users are finding it prudent to fully cover their prospective machinery requirements for two or three months nnead, according to the latest bulletin of the Department of Overseas Trade. The bulletin adds:—

The information now available with regard to the complete wool-selling season of 1935-36 emphasises the strength of the demand for raw material at all the principal sources of supply. In Australia the whole of a clip .of approximately 3,000,000 bales Juts been sold, and the carry-forward is only 76,000 bales, as compared with SOjOOO bales at the end of the previous season and 213,000 bales at the end of the 1933-34 season. In New Zealand there has been a remarkable recovery in demand. The whole of the season's production has been sold. The carry-forward is only 29,530 bales, as compared with 104,411 bales at the end of the previous season and (11,500 bales at the end of the 1933-34. season.

The final figures are not available for South Africa and South America, but it is known that tiicy have had similar experiences to those of Australia and Xew Zealand.

The average price a bale in Australia during the last season was £.17 ius .lid, as compared with £l2 10s bd in the previous season. This will mean a>n increase in revenue, to the Australian growers of about £15,000,000. In New Zealand the average price a bale was £l3 0s sd, as compared with £9 7,s in the previous season, and the total revenue 1o the grower was £10,083,927, as compared with £4,45u',479 iu the previous season. Stocks Remain Steady.

It is significant to find that the generous wool production of the last season has been disposed of without any increase in stocks of w.ool in the consuming countries.

So far as the United Kingdom is concerned, stocks iu the hands of the trade are lighter than is usual at, this time of the year and this has been indicated by the strength of the spot demand at the July wool sales in London. The official returns of stocks of wool at the ports and in railway and canal depots iu Yorkshire also show that they are appreciably below the level of recent years.

On the Continent stocks oi tops at the combing establishments are at the lowest point on record, mainly because of the inability of Germany to finance normal imports. No figures are now published with 1 regard to Italy, but it can be taken for granted that stocks of wool in that country are'negligible. Stocks in America are below normal, and only in the case of .Japan can it. be said that stocks of raw material show an increase on recent years. Tup boycott in Australia will inevitably mean, however, that stocks in Japan will quickly be reduced. Therefore there seems to be a prospect of a keen demand for wool in Australia, even when allowance is made for the fact that Japanese purchases in ,tho Commonwealth are to be reduced to about a third of last season's volume.

There has been during the last month or so a seasonal slowing down in the worsted section of the industry, but the woollen trade has been well employed on winter goods, and taking the West Hiding as a whole, employment has been better than during the corresponding period of last year. Toward the end of July there -were in fact signs of considerable improvement in the earlier processes in the worsted section.

The fact that consumption lias been so well maintained and that trade stocks have been kept in unusually small proportions lias contributed to the soundness of values.

Exports Expand. The m.ost encouraging feature of the export trade during the iirst half of the year has been an appreciable expansion of shipments of woollen tissues. The total was 38,000,000 sq. yds. as compared with 33,000,000 sq. yds. in the first half of last year and 32,500,000. sq. yds. in 1934. The increase was mainly in shipments to Canada, the United States, and the Argentine. Denmark continued to lie ail exceptionally good market, easily the best in Europe. In w.orsted tissues there was only a slight increase—!S,lßs,ooo sq. yds. as compared with 17,830,000 sq." yds. last year and 17,015,000 sq. yds. in .193:1. The best markets for worsteds were the Argentine, Canada, South Africa, Japan, and Denmark, in that order.

The exports of tops and yams show a decline on the.,first hall' of last year and this is due almost entirely to the decreased requirements of! Germany. The best market for tops was Canada, With fi total of 5,173/)001b. for the half-year, and next comes China with a total of 4,85<>,000]b. (as compared with 2,374,0001 b. last year), and Germany takes third place with 3,426,000 lb. In the iirst half of last year Germany took no less than 12,116,0Q011). of tops. In the worsted yam section Germany lias been the largest customer with 3,nr>7,0001b., as against 6,058,0001)). l«At year.