PRICES ADVANCE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19584, 16 March 1938, Page 5

PRICES ADVANCE

: CROSSBRED WOOL

THIRD DUNEDIN SALE SATISFACTORY TRENDS ALL-ROUND COMPETITION GROWERS MEET MARKET (Special to the Herald.) DUNEDIN, this clay. A brisk demand, with keen bidding within definitely prescribed limits, the maintenance of late rates for all descriptions of wool, a noticeable firming in values for crossbreds, and, finally, a • more general disposition on the part of vendors to meet the market, were the chief features of the third wool sale of the season in Dunedin yesterday.

A total of 26,038 bales were offered and a clearance of approximately 95 per cent was reported.

Bidding was more animated than at the February sale in this centre, and at times, competition was exceptionally keen. A representative bench of buyers included Japanese operators who competed keenly . for halfbred and crossbred lines suited to their requirements and often set a pace that no one else was willing to follow.

Compared with the Invercargill sale on Friday, crossbreds were dearer by about Jd and fine wools were firm at late rates, with any change in growers’ favour. The top price of the sale was 17Jd, which was paid for a line of super halfbred. At-the February sale, merino wool topped the market with 19*d, and an extra super line of halfbred made 19d. The best' merino price yesterday was 16d.

It is estimated that the average price per pound yesterday was lOd to with a bale average of £l4 ss. Actual averages for the February sale were 10.39 d a pound and £l4 7s Id a bale. Sale More Animated The gross proceeds from yesterday’s auction should be in the vicinity of £356,250, which brings the total wool cheque for Otago to date up to approximately £1,125,130, less than one-half the amount received from four sales last season. The sale from the beginning was much more animated than was the case in February, and selling reached an unusual tempo. At times during the morning and again after lunch lots were being disposed of at the rate of 450 an hour. All sections of the trade bid freely, but it was obvious that most of the operators were bound by very strict limits.

At from 9d to Is, competition was unusually fierce, but when it came to higher values it was always left to one or two to fight it out. Operators on Japanese account seemed to have an advantage over most of the others, and for wools suited to their purpose they bid in sure conviction that they could outcall any of their opponents. The bulk of the buying, however, was done by Bradford and the Continent, Yorkshire mills, in particular, being very active and determined bidders. The demand from the United States was limited, but useful, and the sale was helped along by some inquiry by agents for Canadian manufacturers. In the absence of extra super and super, lots, which are their specialty, local mills were comparatively quiet.

Preference for Crossbreds

The trend of recent sales was borne out in the general preference shown for crossbred wools, coarse and medium descriptions meeting with a keen demand throughout the sale, which was in marked contrast to the Inquiry for fine wools. Even with super halfbreds at 14d and 14Jd nobody seemed to want them, and bidding ceased very quickly.

Of extra super merino and halfbred types of wool, which took prices as high as 19d and 19}d in February, there were none yesterday and the proportion of super wools of any kind was very small. Merinos were offered in smaller quantities than has been the case for a long time.

Among yesterday’s vendors there are many who have reason to congratulate themselves on having refused to meet the market at the February sale. Growers of crossbreds generally found their wool in better favour, and in many cases were offered considerable advances on the prices at which they passed their wool at the previous sale One South Otago grower who refused 10id for a line of crossbred m February was delighted to accept 12d yesterday. Increases of Id on the figure offered at the last sale were frequent in connection with crossbred lots, but in the main the prices offered and accepted for halfbreds showed little or no variation from those refused by growers five weeks ago. Regulation of Sales

Among growers attending the sale, there was evident a good deal of dissatisfaction with the existing regulation of sales by the Wool Committee, and it was apparent that the view is very generally held that a further restriction of quantities and an increase in the number of sales per season would assist in maintaining prices at a more favourable level. , The decision of the New Zealand Wool Committee not to make any changes because the position was being met by withdrawals that were being made by growers from various sales does not appear to be a popular one. and it would seem that there is a considerable section of the wool growers strongly in favour of curtailment of offerings. In this connection, hopes are entertained that the conference of representatives of producers, brokers, and buyers called for April 6 in Christchurch will take some definite action. Woolbuyers to whom the matter was mentioned were not inclined to commit themselves with regard to a curtailment of allocations, but . they gave the impression that the buying side ol the industry does not , reg a r £ favour anything approaching a fixation of offerings or the manipulation of the selling season purely m the interest, of vendors. ___