COMMERCIAL

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 131, 3 June 1919, Page 7

COMMERCIAL

WORLD'S WOOL MARKET. | I The First National Bank of Boston sums - up the position iv regard to wool In the - American and foreign markets as follows:— J i "The wool manutacturers at length are get- . , ting some orders, as is substantiated by the , increased strength in the Government wool , I auctions, ns well as by the increased buy- j ing at private sale of such wools as are . available in the market. The Government j is trying to meet the requirements of the : • mills in raw wool as fast as these are Indl- j 1 cated, and Is offering during the present . , month some GO,Oot>,OOOlt> of clothing wool, j besides some 4,000,0001b of carpet wools, or , ' more than enough to meet average consump- , tive needs. The new domestic clip is mov- , t ing slowly as yet. hardly anything having . • been sold in the country, and only a small ! quantity of early shorn wool having 'been , consigned to account of eastern merchants. , The growers are asking prices about ten ( i cents a pound above -what eastern dealers i believe is a safe basis upon which to begin • buying with the ■present outlook and the | ! large quantities of wool available In the ; country and to be imported, either on Gov- ; ernment account or privately. At a con- \ servatlve estimate the Government owns I . 3-5,000,00011) of wool, aside from some ' 75,000,0001b of Australasian wool, which is still the subject of negotiation between this ■ country and England; to which stocks must - be added the domestic clip of about ' : 300,000.000 ib this year, or substantially J I more than a year's supply Furthermore, « : there is privately-owned at the River Plate * some 25.000,0001b of wool awaiting ship- » ment hither, according to the best estimates, and a little wool owned by Amen- * cans in South Africa and elsewhere. g i ___——————— c j LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE. LONDON. May 21 (delayed). - ' The following is the latest quotations for i 5 the shares and 0., £4_i.—'A. i - and N.Z. Cable.) * ~~ 1. i POSITION IN UNITED STATES. Jj t f THE HOUSING PROBLEM. S It will be seen from the following excerpt " a out of a trade review forwarded by Messrs.. . ; Brown and Dureau, Asutralasiau agents "for John Dunn, Son and Co of NewJort, , eithat conditions in the United States ax« . el much the same as iv Anckland in so.far as .values of real estate increasing and eats , "•advancing in consequence of the higher '■Prices paid for property:-"The trend of 1. prices is no longer downward, and in an IP branches of business relating to personal requirements such as food, clothing, etc., "•* values are fully maintained and have on the c whole shown a tendency of late to advance, n Rents too. have increased considerably over war-time prices, as the subnormal . amount of building during the past three * years is having Its effect, and in many r, localities the problem of adequate housing ...accommodations is a grave one. I-scause of this, values of real estate are also ad- , vanclng, a very decided Increase being f noted since the first of the year. < i Fortunately there is now evidence of in- s a creasing activity in the building trades, the ( value of contracts arranged during March , - being some 50 per cent larger than those t j in the same month of last year, though stlU r 28 per cent below that of 1917 and con- f slderablv below the average of pre-war _ ' years. Costs for both labour and materials r remain, high, and prospective builders seem , j'to have about reconciled themselves to the j idea that no radical change is likely in the t ** near future." . ( » That there is also larjour unrest is also > shown by the following paragraph:—"The 1 strike of the harbour workers at New York Is at last adjusted, the final terms being a ■ 1 substantial increase in wages and a work- . .ling flay of ten hours. The freight handlers * tjor stevedores have now presented demands *|of the same sort, and it is rumoured that - ''some fifteen thousand men are preparing to " i j stop work. The telephone service over the " r greater part of New England and affecting 650,000 subscribers was for a time wholly disorganised owing to a strike of operators, most of whom are women. The demands f , were for higher wages, which have been rj granted by the Government, and the settle- j_ - ment seems satisfactory to the operators i for the present at least. Generally speak- ? ing, the labour situation is improving, 1 though wage increases rather than the tl ■ reverse continue the rule." r£ : Id la WHEAT IN AMERICA. ™ * • *" SThe total wheat crop of the United States h J Is estimated to be weli ovor 100,000,000, but ' experts are sure that present supplies are •i rapidly dwindling, and prices are well I above the Government figure,, and being paid by millers for special grades. It is a r 'probable that experts will continue large m ifor some time, but a trade circular states: Gi !"With the enormous crop in sight, and the sc accumulated supplies in other countries, th ; there should lie ample wheat for the It world's requirements, and the Government ta I will probably be marketing at a considerable loss later on under its guarantee of ',2 dollars 20 cents to farmers. Favourable .J .weather conditions and this guarantee are ■responsible for this enormous crop, with- _? Jout either of which an actual* world P n ' j shortage might have resulted." "g