COMMERCIAL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 164, 11 July 1907, Page 6

COMMERCIAL.

"Auckland Star" .Office, Thursday, July ___ igof

Business during the last *eek has beGn quiet among the distributing houses and an improvement in the volume of 'bu .i ness doing is hoped to take place, although at. this season of the year the difficult_f experienced in the country •as recards getting in produce, etc., has no doubt a corresponding effect on the town trade The wet weather has also been responsib'e to an extent for the decreased retail trad, oat in the immediate future an improve SH-h V\ be !«*««■ for. The revision oi tbe Customs tanil has caused a feel Ing of uncertainty as regards buying lines which are likely to be affected by the change, and until it is certain' how tal the present tariff will be affected, buyersare cautious in purchasing.

The bargain season commenced vp.t. p ;<3ay in the drapery establishments the usual epidemic of cheap sales having set •n. As usual, large crowds of ladies on. joyed themselves hunting for bargain. and a lot of stock was cleared to _nak_ r ood_ £ ° r the openins up of " tb -e spring

The Shire liner Fifeshire arrived from Picton yesterday, and leaves ■tmcorun.?Hon of loading cargo for West cZTt of ? n «f rI ?, ° rtS - ,Pt RippißSham Grange and Rakaia are discharging, and the Miowera from Sydney, and Moana, from the fcouth, brought transhipments and °enera. cargo. Expected arrivals are th_ k_ mara. Indian Monarch, and In.fra.e__a ™°tion ed 1 aPP, . S: AD advance on openTng qtv-vtJtions has heen advised. Cnfrants. f s .' l vl } l be some time before the new fruit arrives, the effect of the nreseht good demand will be to firm prices "w snltanas: A further advance ha! shown Rice- lT eS a f e ,ikely t0 contl nue high mAnltr.ll. arke - t haS taken . a decWea t»rn _v_™ !l ali .. owlD s to continued advances from the East. Cloves and carrawavs The market maintains a very stronc ____' tion shnrt supplies , n luiSlif V _f_ nr?__, er ra , tes abroad wi » tend to keen the price up for some time. Coffee- A s tr_n_ upward tendency is becoming mtrf a_d n»re apparent in al] good grades in consequence of the shortage of supnllL f_^ eh _f_^ mc 2 f the. crops ™_?b * ago and Ta P io ca: Although the ___♦__?_.? a . shade «■■««, latest !dvice_ S,.__ ? c roots and crops are going to be very short. There is little !__£__.-£ P -' CeS de _". ,nE t0 i-^r. d S ,n ~ er: are verj firm Forward supplies are limited. Chillies and peanuts: In view of decreasing _______] ?_.-_ _"- neT __ supplies being available bevance Ve ?^ r ' I . PHceS T, are X&el * *<» ad " -ond t „.?. m P h . r: ~ P cm and continues good. Local stocks light. Haricot beans: i?,__.? VaDCe 1S to be expected. Fungus: supplies are slow in coming forward and prices continue without change. ' ..,?£ po £ti n ? __} the money market, the .VZ. Trade Review states: Money is in good supply, and freely available for mortgage loans on freehold property at from o to 6 per cent, according to amount and character of security. Bank rates are l'Daliered. as quoted below. Two or \. r< _i. ? f the building companies have raised their rates on deposits for the shorter periods, and are giving 3i for six month., and 3 per cent for three months' deposits. This is the result 'of the maintenance of the Post Office Savings Bank rate at _ per cent on call. There is some expectation that a change will shortly be made in this respect, but no official information is available on the subject

The timber mills are unusually busyjust n0... it being almost impossible to keep pace with the heavy demand for export, coupled with the rapidly increasing local requirements. The difficulty at the present time is to get seasoned timber, because supplies are so rapidly absorbed. A big demand has set in from England for wbite pine, which timber it is reported is coming into use for the manufacture of doors. It may be that in a colder climate the white pine may last better, but in this colony it has been found after a few years to suffer from the borer, and is now practically only used for making butter boxes. On tbe Exchange Business showed a little improvement this week. River Plates changed hands at 29/, and Standard Insurance at 22/. Transactions were reported in Taupiri Coal at 20/3, and Northern Coal at 15/6, while Hikurangis were iv steady reel est at 16/6. Kauri Timber cpntributiug issue sold at 7/11, and L.0.-B. timber at 45/6. Bank shares had steady buyers at the recent advanced price, and Auckland Tramway shares firmed a little this week. Al! cement shares had regular demand at late rates. In mining shares the main attention was paid to dividend' paying companies. Talisman Consolidated shares firmed up rapidly in price this week, latest sales being up to 30/. This is cum dividend of a shilling per share, payable on the first of uext month. The return for June was an excellent one, being £17,517, although a less quantity of ore was treated than for the last four months. The Tairua Broken Hill Company also had a very satisfactory return for June of £1350 from 300 tons of ore, and shares have sold freely up to 4/2 during the week. Waiotahi snares, after firming a shilling, again changed haads at 17/6. Golden Belts had a good rise owing to encouraging reports from the mine. About a fortnight ago these shares could have been bought for 6d but have since sold up to 1/3, and are now wanted at 1/1- As this company has a good 20-stamper battery, a supply of payable ore would soon make a big change in the price of shares, as many of them Cost present holders 3/. Ml. Zeehan shares also had a little attention owing to a rich vein of ore having been met with on the hangingwall of the Birthday reef. The 20,000 shares offered for subscription in the Ferguson Mining and Smelting Company have all been taken up, which will provide the requisite capital for putting up the pyrite smelter at Waiomo. Waihi shares have sold up to, ITS/ this week, and are still wanted at a "shilling under that figure.

Potatoes.— Arrivals t__s week' totalled 7400 sacks, which represent -the heaviest shipment received for some three months •past. Thi§ lot, coming to a bare market, met with ready distribution, and even now, in the midle of the week, stocks are nor large in store, the consumption of. potatoes still keeping up wonderfully. The price at present is £4 15/ to £5 per ton ex _-_>re. according to quality, Prices in Tasmania continue to rule very low, latest advices showing no signs of improvement.

Maize.—Arrivals of maize were Heavy thl_ week, 1300 sacks coining to l_in_ from the coast, and another 600 by "the Miowera from Sydney. These heavy arrivals weakened values, and the price fell fully threepence per bushel in consequence. The lower figures, however. Induced merchants to buy more heavily, and the arrivals were soon cleared. The market is now reported rather brisk, with a better feeling all round, now that prices have reached a level which induces business.

Milling Wheat.—The market. throughout the colony rules very strong for jnIUVQZ wheat. The hrm tone of the English market beta; not without effect in this colony, where everything is so sensitive at the present time,- owing to the light stocks held. At the present time practically no wheat is offering, and the quotation this week is given as 4/S to 4/0 f.o.b. Fowl wheat continues steady at 4/5 ex wharf, and 4/6 ex store. Bran and sharps a_e both in good demand at recent quotations. Flour.—Xo change iv price this week. Agricultural Seeds.—Algerian seeds oats are meeting with good inquiry. The advance in price noted last week has been well maintained, quotations now being 3/9 ex store. Seed potatoes are now meeting with better inquiry. Tasmanian Up-to-Dates have come to hand, and meet with ready sale, being preferred by farmers here, both because it is an entire change of seed, and also for the reason that the Tasmanian are clean looking, and there is an absence of any sign of the disease which has caused such loss to growers here ■ for the last couple nf years.

Oats.—The Wanaka is due at the end of the week with further shipments of oats from the Bluff. Business is somewhat restricted by the iiigh prices ruling for the grain. A very firm feeling is reported in the South, and prices ruling here are still scarcely equivalent to those ia the South, when freight and insurance are added. B grade oats are now quoted at 3/5, ex steamer, and 3/6 ex store. Canadian oats have heen offered on this market, and a fair sized parcel has been placed to arrive shortly. The cost, is, however, somewhat high, leaving local merchants a narrow margin to work upon. Small lots have been offered at 3/3, and it ts probable that figure could be shaded for a large line. When Canadian oats can be landed here to compete with New Zealand grown, after paying freight, Insurance, and duty of 9d per 1001b., it shows what might | happen from a growers' point of view in I the event of tariff charges on grain being reduced.

ChatL —The heavy stocks of compressed locHsr have heen somewhat rednced, but are .still in excess of- the - market ieq __re-.-mente. ;• •business ■ In- that Un*.

is somewhat dull. Under such circumstances the large quantity of inferior local chaff -which, is on the market is difficult to clear. Prime bright local chaff is quoted at £5 per ton, ex rail, and £5 5/ to £5 10/, ex store, according to quality. A little Blenheim chaff of special quality has realised up to £6 10/ per ton. Onions.—Local are still being sent in, but owing to importations from Victoria, this market is somewhat easier, . and only really first-class s.vnples command 6/6 per cwt.

Butter and Eggs.—The price of butter shows no alteration this week. Eggs are more plentiful, and quoted at 1/3 per dozen wholesale.

Manures.—Considerable business is being done in bonedust and manures generally. To meet requirements for too dressing pastures, the demand has set in for manures for potatoes and oats. Stocks of bonedust are as a rule very light at present, and with further advances iv price reported from Calcutta, this market is very firm at £6 15/ per ton, ex store. Superphosphates are in rather short supply, but a cargo is due from Japan next month, and considerable forward business is being done for delivery from ship's side at £4 7/6 per ton.

G. W. BINXES. AND SONS}* BEPORT.

At Tuesday's sale we submitted extra large catalogues of hides, skins, tallow, etc. Hides.—Easier. Ox, extra stout 6_d to 7d. stout s}d to 6Jd, medium ojjd to ojid, light 5d to s}d. Cow, best lines 5d to o.d, good _d to 4_u. Stags, 3id to 3ld. Calfskins, bd to 6}d per lb.

Sheepskins.—Market firm. Extra large to ./. large 3/9 to 6/3, medium 5/ to 5/6, small 4/ to 4/1) each.

Tallow.—Market firm. Best mixed to 2i/6. good 24/ to 2-5/6, seconds 21/ to 22/6, inferior 18/ to 20/ per cwt. Rough Fat.—ljd per lb. Cow Tails.—l/ 8 per dozen. Bones.—£4 15/ per ton.

KAURI GUM MARKET.

"Auckland Star" Office, Thursday, July 10, 1907.

The firm tone of the kauri gum market nas been added to owing to the news regarding the Viking being abandoned, as that vessel had 653. tons of gum on board. Heavy shipments are now being, made, the Star of Japan taking about 400 tons, of which a good proportion is for New York. For the 10 days of July, 241 tons of gum were sent in. The shortage of supplies for the six months ending June 30th was 470 tons, as compared with the output for a si__i__r period in 1906. If to this is added the 653 tons on the Viking, there is every reason for the market to continue firm under such circumstances.