COMMERCIAL.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 114, 5 February 1881, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

THE WOOL MATIKET. ;'.. _ Messrs. C. Balme and Co , under date London, 11th December, report on ■ the fou th series of colonial] wool sales, which cln«ed on that day. The supplies available on first ..hands, inclusive of held-over wools, made a total of 121,000 bales., including 27,000 of ]STew Zealand. . The quantities catalogued made a total of 123.794 bajes. innlndin? 25,380 bales of New Zealand; 'Withdrawals during the auctions, together with unriffered -wools, gave a fotnl of about Ifi.OOO bales held over for future. realisation. The total amount taken for export was estimated at stf#f)d bales. Fluctuations; in prices are unimportant, -and-quo*ntions - for most descriptions ruled substnntinllv under a shade of prlces-^aid durirtg tholiittei 1 portion of the preceding series. _ The chief features of flic sales were The-iar'ee selection of Oancnnd Natal staple, nnd Hie arrivals (J 7,000 bales) of the new Australian' clins, which for the first, time -reached the market at an early period of the season in anything liko appreciable supply. The shipments offered did not, however, except in a few inwnnces compare favora'bly with those of the produce of the previous clip. The Port Philip and New South -Wales shipments were somewhat stained and shorter in staple and in many fender and not inl'reqnentlv heavier and more faultr -The-Ade-laide flocks were cbmparat.iyelv sornder and. better crown, though v not perhaps.lighter in condition. Messrs Balme also says : — " A certain tone of sobriety and reserve^ — and-in the English worsted districts of distinct depression— still marks the condition of bii • sin ess in all tlie leading centres of fonsumpf ion, and the decided indications of increased : industrial and -speculative activity,* which ■have latterly been perceptible in other departments of trade, have as yet. been but feebly marked in the wollen districts.^ The quantities ■which had arrived oti'll th December for the- February sales wore — Svdney, 620 ; Port Philip, 203 ; Adelaide, 1402; .Swan Biver. 2; New Zealand, 1991.; and Cape and Natal. 537. bales ; total, 9580.