DOMINION WOOL FOR BRITAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 272, 17 November 1945, Page 5

DOMINION WOOL FOR BRITAIN

PUTTING NEW LIFE INTO THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY

(Special Correspondent—N.Z.P.A.) London, Nov. 14. Facilities for the limited commercial importation of Dominiin wool into Britain are putting new life into the industry, and firms are believed to bc taki-ng full advantage of permission to buy through Dominion agents front Dominion supplies. However representative may be United Kingdom stocks at the moment, they cannot hope to embody a full range of the types to be found in the Dominion markets, and now that firms here are hoping gradually to return to their pre-war style of trade, they are looking for the particular woo’s they were accustomed to use. These are now brought within reach by direct import facilities and although there has been some disappointment in trade circles because sterling payment is required to be made in London within 14 days of date of sale to the buyers’ agent in the Dominions, it is officially explained that this does not interfere with the financing of transactions bv letters of credit if the terms of credit provide for payment in London on or before prompt day in the Dominions. The chief consideration is that to purchase wool in th<_ Dominions is no dearer than to buy from soot supplies here, as expert adjustment has been made to cover those items of cost—such as freight—which are included in the price of wool bought here but are borne by lhe importer as a separate charge in the case of wool bought direct from Dominion supplies. Taking these costs into account, the cost of wool brought here is exactly on a par with that bought in the Dominions, and the latter carries the advantage of a wider selection from which to choose. 111-informed reports that United Kingdom buyers obtain preference over buyers from other countries in the new Empire wool prices are without foundation and call for correction. They probably arise from a misunderstanding of the British Government, subsidy on wool clothing for the British people, but that does not alter the fact that British buyers of Dominion wool pay the same price as all others. After paying that price for wool, British firms are required to sell under cost to British spinners and manufacturers when the woo] is to be used to make cloth for home consumption, and the wool firm is then reimbursed by the authorities to the extent of the difference between its buying price and the lower selling price. That is how the British subsidy on civilian clothing operated, but it gives the wool-buyer no difference in the price he pays. He is merely reimbursed by lhe authorities for selling at what would otherwise be an uneconomic price, a n d this applies only 1o that portion of his turnover which goes into foods for final consumption inside Britain. British firm:; who buywool against rations in the Dominions may not have th if wool discharged at on route ports, lhe reason being that such purchases are not linked un with the machinery requirements here and the wool must come forward for United Kingdom processing in due time. Export of Dominion wool Is possible, but under an entirely different procedure.