DUNEDIN WOOL SALES

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19765, 21 December 1935, Page 4

DUNEDIN WOOL SALES

ANTICIPATION REALISED. 1 KEEN OUTSIDE DEMAND. 'LOCAL MILLS BUY FREELY. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) DUNEDIN, Friday. As a result of the opening auction of the wool selling season in Otago today, the cheque for almost a reoord offering of just under 30,000 bales should exceed £400,000. There was a large bench of buyers and a good sale resulted with fine wools, comprising 50 per cent, of the catalogues, selling well at satisfactory rates from Id to 4d in excess of those at the corresponding sale last year. The top price of the sale was 182 d for super halfbred and 18id for super Merino, compared with the best figure of 14id at the opening sale last December. Three bales of super combing fine halfbred ewes, which were passed at auction at 18d, were subsequently sold privately at I9d, but that ligure is not officially recorded in the report of the sale. The only disappointing feature of the sale was the failure of crossbreds to. show an increase comparable with that displayed by the finer descriptions of wool. These, although dearer than was the case last year, showed an improvement of only about Id to 2d per lb. More than the usual interest was displayed in the sale on account of the general anticipation that a combination of improved market strength, and the betLer quality of the Otago clip this year would result in keen competition and good prices. Position of Market. The position of the wool market as disclosed by the sale was that fine wools are firm and In keen demand, while crossbreds are very uncertain. Fine wools appear to have a genuine value, at the moment' in contrast with an almost false value of crossbreds, in which Bradford was inclined to display less than usual interest on account of the fact that, as one buyer remarked, Ihese descriptions of wool can'be bought more cheaply in London than in New Zealand. Actually the improvement in crossbreds to-day was less noticeable than was the case with respect to certain North Island auctions where the coarser type of crossbred showed a higher percentage of improvement. Without Japan and Canada the inquiry for crossbreds would have been even more disappointing. It is difficult to estimate the average prices, but It was agreed by several authorities that if la&t season’s averages per pound and per bale were increased by 25 per cent, the result would not he far wrong. On this basis it is estimated that the average price' per pound was about lOd compared with last year and the average price per bale £l4, compared with £ll os last year. Willi a total offering last December of just over 16,000 bales, the gross receipts from the sale were approximately £175,000.

The Range of Prloes. Following is the official range of prices, compared with the sale hold in December, 1934.

Dec. 1934 Dec., 1935 Merino— d d d d Extra super .. to 144 174 to 184 Super 12 to 13 10 to 17 Average 10 to H 14 to 15 Interior 8 to 9 11 to 124 Fine Halfbred, 5058— Extra super .. to 144 174 to 181 Super 11 to 12-1 15 to 17 Average 93 to 104 124 to 141 104 to 12 Inferior 8 4 to 9 4 Medium Halfbred, 50-5G — Extra super .. to 13 154 to 10 Super 104 to 114 1 3 4 to 15 Average 9 to 10 114 to 13 Inferior 74 to 8'1 94 to 1 1 Fine Crossbred, 4 8 -50— Super 8 4 to 10 .-11 to 124 Average 7j to 8J 84 to 94 Inferior 0 to 7 74 to 8 Crossbred to 7 71 to 84 Inferior 5 10 6 7 to 74 Medium Crossbred, 44-46— Super 7 10 8 S to 0 Average nj to 0 4 04 to 74 Inferior 4 4 to 5 5 to 0 Necks and Pieces— Halfbred: Good to super 9 toll} 124 to 164 Low to medium 5 to 3 8 to 12 Crossbred: Good to super 6 to 74 7 to 94 Low to medium 3 to 5 4 4 to 04 Halfbred Bellies— Good to super 7 tO 84 84 to 1 1 Low to medium 44 to 0 51 to S Crossbred Bellies— Good to super 54 to 64 5 to 74 Low to medium 3 to 41 4 to 5 4 Locks— Medium to good 3 to 3J 4 4 to 6 Inferior 1 to 14 2 to 0