This week another decline fu yarn values has been registered, amounting to about Tls. 2 to Tls. 3 a bale.
Cotton has not declined in proportion to this. The Government estimate of the American crop was only very slightly under that of a month ago, and values in America declined 40 points a pound. On! Thursday prices there were only just slightly higher than after the issue of the report.
Weather news from Hankow is ood, and it would appear that there Should be an excellent crop of Shensi cotton. The first arrivals are being taken by the mills in Mankow, and the staple is reported to be better than last yea the Shanghai district the growth may have suffered to some extent from the recent rains, but with some fine weather the outturn should be good.
Mills locally are holding off from buying to any great extent, their weekly report on the cotton and yar situation Messrs. J. Spunt & Ca, state:—China Cotton:—The firmness of the local cotton market during the! carly part of the week was disturbed by the cross current in the shape of a bearish U.S.A. Bureaa report issued on the 8th instant} giving the condition of the cotton crop there at 582 per cent. of normal and a total of 14,340,000] bales. These figures apparently exceeded general expectations and brought about a sharp decline in our markets, though such slump was short-lived, in that towards the close, owing to the extensive bull] speculative operations in the local Cotton Exchange, being stimulated by the unfavourable weather conditions recently experienced in the} Chekiang and Kiangsu Provinces materially redueing the previously expected size of the crop, a rather firmer tendency was generated. On the other hand, latest reports from Hupeh Province indicate a bumper yield, but due to difficult transportation from the interior marts caused by banditry and militaristic movements, considerable delay in the receipts here may be expected.
Taking into consideration the continued poor demand from spinners coupled with the existing weakish aspect of the local yarn market, we see very little reason to expect a sharp advance of any consequence, Dut due to the crop scare we do not anticipate anything like a return to very low prices prevailing in the immediate future, and the probability therefore is for scalping markets, until the situation will shape itself in one way or the other in more decided manner. However, taking into consideration the continued depression in the world's textile trade, we fail to see at this time any reason for taking a bullish view of the situation in the long run.
Yarn:—During the week under review, our yarn market indicates a very weak aspect with no prospects for an carly recovery, while values receded by one tael to two taels as compared with prices in the previous period, the only business worth mentioning being Szechuan purchases.
It is reported that they] b have bought 10,000 bales of all counts (10's to 32's) since Septem ber 1, and more demand may be expected from that quarter from now on, It is strange, however, to note that most of the Japanese mills have sold their products, mostly of 20's well ahead to the end of the first quarter of next year, and have to apportion deliveries from their daily production towards completing contracts against sales made previous to the above. On the other inese mills appear to have heavy stocks, which are constantly accumulating with hardly any outet, but hope is being entertained ing before the Should such' demand not materialize then the only alternative toward alleviating! the situation would be hedging against their stocks on the local Exchange. In such an event further declines are inevitable and therefore purchases at this time are unadvisable unless the general situation in the interim changes materially.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.