AUSTRALIAN EXCHANGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 167, 18 July 1938, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN EXCHANGES.

TO-DAY «N SYDNEY. (Received 1 p.m.) SYDNEY, this day. Morning sales in Sydney were: —

£ s d Bonds, 1038 4 p.e 101 ."> o Ditto, 1041, 4 p.c 101 , 7 0 Ditto, V.144, i p.c I<M ." O Ditto, lf>r.7, 4 p.c I<K: 1T «i Ditto, l<lol. 4 p.c ' Jill K) o iSiiuk of n.s.w ;n ."> 0 Tooliey'u Breweries 1 10 It Cash Orders Amalgamated ..• O 17 :i Electro. Zinc 2 3 3 l'*elt and Textiles 1 13 6 O. J. Colee 4 2 « Howard, Smith ...: 1 O 7J KAURI GUM. BUYERS IN THE FIELDS.

A FIRMER MARKET.

The most striking feature in the kauri gum trade during the past few weeks has been the*tendency for export buyers to go out into the field for supplies, and not merely to select their requirements from the gum that reaches the city in the ordinary way. It has not been revealed whether this policy has been adopted on the initiative of the local buyere themselves, or whether it ie due to a broad hint from New York, but the fact that buying ie taking place in the fields, as well as in the city, suggests that the opinion ie held in some quarters that the recovery in trade in the United States-ie likely to be permanent.

In the meantime the visible result in Auckland is a hardening tendency in the market, the main consideration of buyers at present being to obtain supplies rather than to be too careful about prices. Linoleum grades still comprise the bulk of the trade, but although the quantity of white gum now being found ie negligible a good deal of black gum k coming to hand, and this tends to increase the total value of the trade.

The returns for the past month have been released earlier than usual, and these show that 134 tons arrived in the city during June, while 100 tons were exported. Probably owing to the unusual quantities of direct purchases in the field*, there haa again been some overlapping in . the monthly records, and it eeems that another 46 tone must be added to the 269 tons previouely returned as Ahe supplies for May. in the same way ae 49 tone had been added to the 85 tone originally recorded as received during April. The cloee of the half-year enables a comparison to be made with the operations during similar periods in former years, and the subjoined table shown the number 6i tone received and exported during the first half of this year and laet. compared with the quantity moving in lf)30, before the crash m prices had taken effect:—

1038. 1937. 1930. t S?, c * ? xp - Rec - Exn - Ree - Exp. Jan. . 151 136 160 288 371 235 Feb. . 55 86 265 417 412 433 Mar. . 105 200 233 309 563 442 Apr. . 134 65 265 305 441 475 May . 315 251 92 249 374 423 June . 134 100 160 350 247 258

Totals 894 838 1,175 1,918 2,408 2,266

The export value of the 100 tons exported is given as £5997, which averages within a few pence of £60 per ton, and is distinctly a record for any month in recent yeare, besides being higher than any annual average since 1926, when the average wae £68 4/ per ton. It muet be again pointed out, however, that the rise to £60 since January, when the average was only £40 9/, does not mean a corresponding rise in the price of individual qualities of gum, for the monthly averages depend very largely on what qualities happen to be shipped during the period. During January all but two tons went to the United Kingdom, whose purchases are always chiefly the cheaper grades of linoleum gum, whereas during June only 60 tons went to the United Kingdom, whereas 21 tons of probably higher quality went to Canada, 13 tons to the United States and six tons of etill higher quality to Australia.