OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2690, 21 December 1909, Page 2

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

FACTORS WHICH ARE DETERMINING PRICES.

(From Our Snecial Correspondent.) BRADFORD, Nov. 5. The- wool trade to-day is conducted under ’very different conditions to what obtained twenty years ago, everything moving decidedly faster. Not only does wool dome to hand earlier and. more quickly, but by the aid of electricity the uttermost ends of the earth have been practically linked up with the mill doors of the world, and what is done to-day in London or Bradford is known a few hoars later in Adelaide, -Sydney, Port Elizabeth, Buenos Aires, or Boston. It must have been a long, tedious (process when all the wool news had to come by mail, but in those days business was conducted and done upon somewhat different lines, there .being a bigger margin lor every man, the risk also being considerably minimised. I am certain that wool buying is being done to-day more finely than ever it was, and the man who cannot value to a nicety is no good as a buyer. The fact is, mere guess work cannot be adopted in the v 0..! trade, and the all important question of being able to estimate a clean yield of any sample of wool is of paramount importance. 1 should say that more attention is being given to the question of what weight wool is going to give when clean scoured than ever before, simply because men are having to buy to ifft a price. In .some special cases men purchase wool regardless of cost, because they cannot do without a speciality, but that is very much the exce/ption and not the rule. AN ABSENCE OF NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA.

There is one. aspect of the trade which is giving rise to considerable comment, and which is a phase of . the market that can be a means of disturbing the ,peace of mind of many men. A year ago at this.time our daily papers contained almost every morning some cablegram from either Sydney, Melbourne, or Adelaide, partfcularly the two former centres, but this season there is a complete dearth of all such intelligence. What is the reason of it? That question is on the lips of Inany, and there is a gooff deal of surmising. I say candidly that it does more harm than good to keep a whole market in suspense, no matter whether prices be going up or down. Many people are asking, Are values lower in Australia than what importers are making out, and is there a compact en the other side t-o keep users here as ignorant as possible? After the engineered “futures” movement on the i 'ontinent one is prepared for anything, but I do emphatically say that when large and important .sales are being held three and four days every week in Melbourne and Sydney some kind of news should be forthcoming from responsible parties at those selling centres. All the gossip in Bradford is to the effect that merino wool is fracdearer in Australia, but we have only importers’ words for it. My own view is that if wool was selling at higher prices interested parties in Australia would soon see the.wisdom of cabling that good news to our daily issues,. Vut. alas not a single word has been printed with the exception , of the splendid cable sent by Elder Smith and Co.', Ltd.,' of "Adelaide, and a short note by Sanderson, Murray and Co., Ltdintimating that fine crossbreds were; 5 per -cent, dearer ,on American account. There is . consequently any-' thing hut a confident feeling, and one wonders if wool ,is being 'picked up cheaper in Melbourne and Sydney than what is commonly believed. If it was generally held that wool was hardening, then spinners would be free buyers, but that is not the case, and things are still very quiet. ;■!; A STEADY MARKET. ; There continues .to be an absence of any leading factor, nothing disturbing

tho' peaceful face of the market. There is aii absence of activity, although below the surface there is a fairly steady business doing. Under a belief that values are the turn dearer in Australia topmakers are not selling forward anything like as freely as they were, and several importers are naming id higher prices. All the cheap offers are a thing of the past, and I can find no toprnaker prepared to accept 24id for super 60’s as was the case a fortnight ago. The lowest price that men will take today is 25d and 23d for 60’s and 64’s tops respectively. Others who were sellers at that figure -will not now accept same, these wanting 2s lid and 2s 2id for the two qualities named. The only reason given for these increased quotations is dearer wool in the Colony, and yet they can offer no evidence to confirm their statement. Spinners are not following as one would expect. There continues to be the same manifestation of indifference to higher prices as we have seen all along, and there is accumulating evidence of a big business to follow if [prices would drop to the cherished 2s basis. But there they stick about a penny above expectations. In face of an expected general election, dear money, and a little disturbed political surface, it seems to many that a 2s basis is well within being an accomplished fact, and there being some big weights' of -wool ti lift between now and Christmas is considered a sufficient reason for expecting a .still lower range of prices. I think I never moved among users in all my life when there was less expression of opinion about a material fail, no party looking for that. On the other hand ail seem agreed that we are going to see maintained a good range of values at all about to-day’s level, only a drop to 2s for super 60’s tops would be an exceedingly welcoaie feature. THE FASHIONABLENESS OF MERINOS.

It is always an interesting experience to look through a set of patterns which are being made by an up-to-date manufacturer, for then we see what is being done, and what qualities are being made. The writer stands in very close touch with several "West Riding manufacturers, and has the run of one of the best woollen and worsted factories in Yorkshire. That gives me a chance oKknowing exactly what are the most fashionable fabrics, and without doubt merinos still occupy the fore front position. There is being made an endless variety of fabrics both for men and women’s wear, and merinos are uppermost. After all cloth made from fine wool presents a smarter appearance than when made from crossbreds, although the latter for hard wear are somewhat better tbah the former. Fine merinos are very good and wear admirably, and will always be to the frontmore or less. There seems to be a tendency for the gentler sex to take up fine Venetians tor costume purposes, and if that is so, then there will be consumed as much fine wool as ever. I well remember Venetian cloths originating, and what a run there was for ladies costumes, jackets, etc. First we had drabs, then fawns, then followed grey mixtures, and greens. At the first these were made from all fine wools, then crossbred manufacturers imitated them in stripes and checks, and since fabrics have varied considerably, at one time tweeds being all the rage. Just at present there seems to be a big demand for indigo blue serges for this special line, and some very effective costumes are being made. And what more sightly fabric is there for either men or women’s wear than a blue serge. They always look smart and are serviceable, and the "'everlasting” wear is more than a mere empty term. For next spring several of cur manufacturers are turning out Venetians, and all being made from fine wool or a mixture of wool and cotton, it means a large consumption of the raw material. THE POSITION OF CROSSBREDS.

Crossbreds are doing little else than mark time, the Bradford, market waiting for a lead. The largest houses seem very much disposed to lie low, and they would like to see repeated what has transpifed in merinos. All along I have had an impression that we shall see a mild “bear 7 attempt made to get prices down in the hope of affecting New Zealand and Buenos Aires markets, one very large firm of buying brokers emphasising the factlast week end that every quality of crossbreds were weaker, but I could not see it. It is true that -10's are com-

paratively slack, and . they can Jae bought at a most reasonable rate; fact, many people are at a complete/ loss to understand why 40’s are so slow and unresponsive. There are a good many complaints that the German yarn trade in single 16’s to 3Q’s, which consume large weights of 40’s tops, is not as healthy as it might be, and particulars do not flow in as they should even on contracts bought at 3d to Gd per gross loss than what spinners will take to-day. There are offering some fair quantities of second hand yarns at prices which-spinners will not accept, that being a clear indication that consumption i.s not what it should be. There continues to be the ffiost business in medium and lino qualities and stocks here are not larger. I daresay gome of our large importers would be only too keen to use the weappn of selling down prices if they knew that stocks were at all hea\;y, but there cannot be very much wrong with the market when the surplus carried over on June 3Qth of New Zealand and River Plate crossbreds has all gone into consumption. That seems to be a surprising fact which should not be lost sight of. There i s still some seeking up of fleeces, and the trad© in these is considerable, America absorbing some nice weights of both. English, and Colon, ial sorts.