COMMERCIAL.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16885, 13 July 1920, Page 7

COMMERCIAL.

~ | BRITISH TRADE. - ; A GENERAL SURVEY. s (By Cable—Press Association —Copyrirh:.': s (Australian and N.£. Cablo Association.LONDON, July 10. j Though tho Board of Trade returns J.-r Jur.o arc- less favourable than tho May'totals. the half-year's figure** sue quoted lo show r th<> progro-w made in restoring the truth; . balance, but the question is asked if tho - j progress, ii rapid tmor.gh. . • An out»L\mimg fentiiio i? tho continued u slackening off in now business. This ap , plies in varying degrees in Manchester. ! Bradford. Birmingham, Sheffield, Nottim* . ham, and Middlesbrough. Buyers are sat!V ' i s -: v ' :l " nicrvly their immediate requirements. a. oelioving that prices luvve not yet reached j their bottom levl. j> A more serious feature » tho further catt--3 collations of Chinese and Indian ordevi through, the depreciation of the silver currencies. This is affecting especially thu - Lancashire piece good* trade. 0 Extravagant purchasing by the mills in - the boom psriod is now aggravating the -, situation in Lancashire, but the authorities i there, as in other industries, assert that n . ; slump, in tho ordinary sense, is impossible, mving to the cost 3 of raw material an.l labour, and also tho practical absence <•;' manufacturers' stocks. There has been i»> over-ptodur.tion, and :t is contended that , tho world's demands arc far from satis Sod. j A revival is not anticipated before tho autumn, end then only if 'industrial trouble-. notably anions the wool operatives and ming prs. are averted. L} Tramp steamer freights continue down- |] i*ard. > An important factor is tho United States' embargo on coal txports, which infects immediately 500 vessels. Time char- ( tors haVc declined about 15 per cent, in '. three weeks. Almost tho only bright spot - in freights is an enquiry for coal tonnoco ; from Newcastle, New South Wales, at Uss to tho Mediterranean, and from 170 a to 175s to Scandinavia. r Shipowners and shipbuilders are alarmed at the heavy increase- in tho cost of new r 1 tonnage, and .also nt tho effect of tire Oeno i Shipping Conference's docisions. It is ve- . jilted that many orders have been cancelled. _ Tho "Economist" says the monthly index , figures of wholesale rrirce during June show 11 the largest fall for any month for some 0 years, especially in textiles, but cereals and 1 meat leached record hich figures. A featuret of tho produce markets in tho last forts ni<jlit was the slackness in fibres, except flax; and the stagnation in tallow is ?aid in trade circles to be almost unprecedented. The non-ferrous metal trade believes that t pTicos are finding a sounder basis, owinjj 0 to tho elimination of tho speculative elcS mont and tho transference of metal to ,_ stronger hands. At the same timo tho jj fluctuations havo caused buyers to remain cautious. Tho "Metal Bulletin" consider* that lh<> vorst stage of tho deflation has boon passed H througlu The timo is not ripe, it says. h for a sustained upward move. 1 Daily supplies of English meat at Sraith- . Sold continue large, and prices nr© now " little above tho control level. There is acorresponding shrinkage in tho consumption s of imported meat. DOUBLE INCOME TAX. 7 (Renter's TelegramsO s LONDON, July !). '» In the llouso of Commons Mr Stanley r Baldwin, Financial Secretary to tho Treats sury, replying to a question in reference to g double income tax, expressed a hope that reciprocal cction would bo taken by tho Dominions. So far there had not been time to enter into negotiations. 0 __!_ j? BRITISH DEBT TO ARGENTINA. 1 BUENOS AIRES, July 9. 0 Tho British Government has mado ar- - rangemonts to liquidate its debt of 100,000,1 000 dollars to Argentina, by meeting periodi--1 cally tho interest. on Argentina's _ external debt, held in London. Groat Britain lius already liquidated half of its debt by paying off a 50,000,000 dollar obligation which ~ Argentina owed United States bonkers. TASMANIA*" STOCKS. 1 ' HOBART, July 12. Cabinet is increasing tho interest on in--3 scribed stock to 5} and 6 per cent. TALLOW. Messrs ' Booth and Co.'s London house r cables that, at the fellow sales, held on * the 7th in st., SCS casks were offered, but } only 85 casks were sold. Values showed a 1 further decline of £2 per ton. Nominal 7 quotations are:—Edible mutton 735, edible - beef 735, good mutton 70s, good beef 68s, 1 good colour 695, no colour 60s, gut 595. 3 The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile r Agency Company, Ltd., havo received tho following advice from London, tinder date 7th inst.:— "Tallow—We quot© present spot values for the following descriptions of tal' - low: Fine mutton £3 10s, good beef £3 Bs. J mixed £3 2s. Small demand. Downward . tendency." e The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile j Agencv Co., Ltd., adviso having recoived tho following cablegram from London, under • dato 7th inst.:—"Wool—Sales opened. Com- - petition hesitating. Heavy withdrawals. Good greasy merino par to S per cent., and other greasy merino 5 per cent, lower. Fino end medium crossbred unchanged. Scoured , merino and coarse crossbred neglected," ; HIGH COMMISSIONER'S CABLE. r (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELKCRAM.) \ WELLINGTON, July 12. i The Department of Agriculture has received t the following cablegram, dated tho 7th inst., [ from tho High Commissioner': — Wool—The fourteenth scries of Government '< wool sales commenced last night with a good attendance of buyers, but competition was again hesitating except for best merinos and finer .crosebreds in the grease. As compared > with closing rates of last series, prices of - merinos were par to 5 per cent, lower. Cross- : breds, fine and medium, wero unchanged, . and coarse neglectetL Ninety thousand bales j of shown wools axe available for tho series, of which 17,500 are New Zealand, also 15,000 on description, all New Zealand. ' Under date tho 10th inst. the High Commissioner says:— Meat—Upon tho removal of control early ' this week, pricos of English beef and mutton i increased to Is 7id and 2s per lb respectively, i but, owing to th«» poor demand, prices -cr* now much lower—beef Is 3d per lb and mutton and lamb Is 3Jd. There ia no change in tho price of imported meat. Butter—The average price of English butter is £16 16s per cwt. Irish is in active demand, with short supplies, particularly of best quality. Supplies have been delayed on account of transport difficulties. Creamery is quoted at £15 to £15 15s per cwt. Tho Danish production continues large, a considerable quantity going to America. Cheese—Tho demand for English is limited, with no change in price. . Canadian is In good demand. Quotations c.Lf. are £7 12a 6d to £7 14s per cwt. _ Hemp—The Manila market is quiet, but firmer. Sales include J grade April-June shipment £59 10s per ton, August-October shipment £63 10a. Present quotations ar* 10s higher. The New Zealand market is very quiet Quotations, which are slightly lower, are —Spot high point.£ss (sellers), fair ££4, May and July shipment £54 and £52 respectively. . . „ . , Honey—The market is quiet. Nominal quotations ore 85s and 955, according to quality. SUGAB SUPPLIES AND PEICES. BOARD OF TRADE STATEMENT. Tho sugar position was discussed in an interview last night by Mr W. G MacDonald, chairman of tho Board of Trade. Tho first shipment of new sugar, said Mr Mac Donald, would arrive by tho Monowai during the present week. The price for Christchurch merchants was £47 10s a ton, f.o.b Auckland, which would allow it to be retailed at Gd a pound cash, and 6id a pound booked or delivered, leaving a turnover of, approximately, 12J per cent, to meet running expenses. Merchants stated that sugar was not «• profitable line to handle, unless they could get 17 per cent., but there was no intention of further increasing the Drice. Dealing with supplies-, Mr Mac Donald said that it was not possible for the refinery in Auckland to turn out more refined sugar than it had been producing during the past fevr years. Although people complained of a shortage, the fact remained that for the year ended March 31st, 1920, there was actually delivered from the works 58,465 tons, a* against 57,782 tons in the year ended March 31st, 1913. Since March 31st, 1920, up to June 30th, the factory had never stopped on account of lack of raw sugar to refine. From other causes there had been stoppages, covering a total period of five days, which meant a loss of 1000 tons of refined sugar. Another interesting comparison showed that during) tho war period New Zealand's consumption, averaged for all purposes 1221b per head of year, and of that about 80lb was for domestio purpoics. England to-day had to manas© on a ration of six ounces a wook, which was equivalent to 19Jlb per head a .year. Tho United States, for all purpoics, in 1910, used 851b a head, of which about 50lb would represent thfit consumed in domestic use. Fromthese figures it was quite clear that, of tho world's supply, New Zealand obtained ite full share. "The retail price in England runs from Is Id to Is 3d a nound," continued Mr MacDonald. "In the United States tho prito i» practically the same. The only country that can compere with New Zealand in regud to