First Wool Sale

Southland Times, Issue 23677, 28 November 1938, Page 4

First Wool Sale

The first wool sale gives a fairly reliable indication of the trend of prices for the season, and it is gratifying to note that at Auckland on Saturday the average return was nearly Id per lb better than last year’s. According to the Press Association report of the sale, this means an average of about £l4 a bale (compared with £l3 10/- last November) and an initial wool cheque of about

£325,000—£125,000 more than was realized at the first sale last year. The substantial increase in the cheque is due not only to the better average price but largely to the greater volume of transactions: of the 24,000 bales offered, more than 23,000 were sold. The bidding was dominated by British, French and German buyers. The extent of Japanese buying was uncertain, but apparently it was slight; and there is no reference in the report to American bidding. Coarse wool's were in special demand. Indeed, the improvement in the average price is attributed largely to the demand for crossbred, which more than compensated for a fall in the prices realized by Southdown and other fine wools. Tins augurs better for the North Island than for the South, but growers everywhere will be heartened by the generally healthy tone of the sale. It should not be necessary to emphasize the value to the country of a good wool season at the present time. High export prices and a rising volume of production have become more vitally important than ever, for the Dominion has been put into such high gear, financially and economically, that any substantial fall in export returns would cause grave embarrassment. Dairy production so far this season has diminished, and the trend of prices for butter and cheese is not encouraging. If wool were to fall also, accentuating the decline in the country’s overseas resources, the outlook would be even more unsettled than it is.