WOOL PROSPECTS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 930, 28 November 1933, Page 7

WOOL PROSPECTS.

Canterbury Has Had Better ClipsGOOD REASON FOR HOPE. Not for several years have farmers and brokers in Canterbury prepared with such high hopes for the first wool sale of the season. The psychological effect of the big increases in prices at Auckland was apparent in the stores this morning. Wool is pouring into Christchurch at the rate of 1200 bales or more a day and brokers may have to close their catalogues at the end of this week instead of Tuesday, the set day. It is certain that by December 12, the date of the sale, there will be much more in the stores than the 25.000 bales allocated. The increase in price confidently anticipated will be slightly offset by the fact that the offering, generally speaking, is not of such high quality as last year. Although the wool has not yet been opened up in the stores, brokers have been able to form an opinion of its quality by what is going through their reclassing departments, and the effects of the dry autumn, with its consequent shortage of feed, is only too plainly seen. How’ever, it is to be remembered that the bulk of the offering will open up much better than the smaller consignments sent to the store for reclassing. This is plains wool, too, and better quality is to .be looked for from the back country, where the benefits of a winter unusually free from snow will have their good effect on quality’. Better Than Expected. The fact that the offering for the sale is not as good in quality as it was last year has not perturbed brokers, who agree that it is better than might have been expected under the unfavourable conditions experienced on the plains. There are bound to be dusty and tender lots, as flocks started the winter with practically % no grazing at all. The Waiheke lot which brought the remarkable price of 29fd is similar in quality to the best Canterbury Corriedale, although it is a higher yielding wool on account of the rainfall experienced in the country from which it comes. The top Auckland price maybe equalled, though it is not likely to be exceeded here. One broker said this morning that the last London quotations on London parity put the best half-breds at up to 20id and higher prices realised here would be through the result of local competition. The competition of the mills was likely to be just as keen in Christchurch as in Auckland, for buyers looked to Canterbury for their fine wools, and there is good reason to expect an advance of twopence or threepence on Auckland for fine wools. The Banks Peninsula cross-bred wool for which growers are expecting better prices in conformity with Auckland is in good condition, but prices may be affected by the fact that it is carrying a great deal of trefoil burr. Auckland has received nearly as much for its offering in this sale as it did for the whole series of three last season, representing an average rise of more than 100 per cent, and an average return of £l3 a bale. On the basis of the usual increase on the Auckland average, Canterbury should receive £ls a bale, assuming that prices were firm. This would mean a return of £375,000 and last season growers received only £BOO,OOO for the four sales. Dizzy Figures. Such excursions into dizzv figures are fascinating after the terrible depression of last season, but there are not lacking those who would sound a warning against unrestricted jubilation. They point out that such sudden rises as that in Auckland are dangerous. They may be due to a real improvement in conditions, but there is at present an acute shortage of wool. This is New Zealand’s present good fortune, but whether the market will remain at its present height.is a question on which experts are not prepared to advance an opinion. Immediate prospects, however, are good, and although the average Canterbury clip will be neither as bright nor as heavy as in some previous seasons, and fleeces are likely to be reduced in weight, growers and the general public alike are safe in expecting a substantial rise on last season’s prices on December 12, when the Caledonian Hall will be the centre *of interest for the whole province, and indeed for the Dominion. (A full report of the Auckland sale appears on page 4.)