THE WOOL MARKET

Southland Times, Issue 19125, 18 December 1923, Page 5

THE WOOL MARKET

LATENESS OF LOCAL SALES POSITION IN SOUTHLAND INTERESTED PARTIES INTERVIEWED. The lateness of the wool sale to be held in Invercargill on January 24, and the consequent disadvantages under which the local growers are placed thereby have been responsible for a good deal of comment, and it has been freely stated that a large number of growers have sent their wool forward to Dunedin for the auction sale which is to take place there next Friday. In order to ascertain whether there was any foundation for such an assertion a Times representative yesterday made some inquiries concerning the matter, when it was ascertained that the amount which has been sent from this part of the district was not very great, though it was admitted without any reservation that the majority of the growers resident in the Eastern District had sent forward their wool clips to Dunedin for 'disposal there which, of course, means that Otago will benefit as a wool producing province at the expense of Southland.

“For a long time we have been endeavouring toaget the wool growers in the Eastern District to send their wool to the Invercargill sale instead of to Dunedin, but so far with very little result,” said one gentleman interested in the trade. “I admit that the Invercargill sale is much later than we would like,” he continued, “but then we have got to consider that the difficulty is to fit in with the intinerary arranged by the buyers. Strenuous efforts have been made to remedy the deficit, but without result and there does not seem much prospect of changing this state of affairs at the present moment.” “Very little wool has gone to Dunedin for this week’s sale,” said another gentleman when asked for his opinion. “And none is likely to go now,” he continued, “because our sale on January 24 will be held five days prior to the next Dunedin sale. Farmers are inclined to blame the brokers for the lateness of the Invercargill sale, but I can say unhesitatingly that the brokers have done their utmost to get an earlier date for our first sale. Moreover, it is quite a mistake to say that the brokers have been unmindful of the growers’ interests. The whole trouble unfortunately for us is that the greatest pressure in the arrangement of the dates for the sales throughout the Dominion is exerted by the northern provinces and a glance over last year’s offerings from the various provinces is sufficient to show that we have very little claims to consideration. Last year, for example, Wellington firms offered no fewer than 114,000 bales and going down the list you will see the following figures:—Auckland 40,000 bales, Christchurch 66,000, Dunedin 61,000, Napier 81,000, Wanganui 52,000 and Tirnaru 29,000, while Invercargill only offered 23,000. The climatic conditions this year have certainly been responsible for shearing having been put forward about ten days to a fortnight and this fact, combined with the lateness of the sale, has accentuated the present state of affairs. Personally I think that if we could have had a sale about January 15, with a second salt about February 20, it would have been most suitable for our needs, but for the reasons already stated this has been found impossible.” “The only point I should like to emphasise with regard to the sales,” said another gentleman approached, “is that it is entirely contrary to brokers’ interests to have two-thirds of the wool coming in for the first sale and only one-third for the second sale. Not only does it cause congestion in the stores, but it also involves extra handling and much more expense.” SYDNEY WOOD SALES. RECORD PRICES. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Australian and N'.Z. Cable Association.) SYDNEY, December 17. (Received December 18, 1.0 a.m.) The wool sales were continued, all grades selling readily at highest point of the season, comebacks and crossbreds being in particular request. Greasy merinos sold to 38d. Comebacks created a fresh record at 36 )d. Crossbreds reached a record price of 34id.