FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18548, 25 November 1925, Page 10

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

DAIRY) PRODUCE. GENERAL ADVANCE IN BUTTER. CHEESE FIRMER. tr&ox oua own cokbespondent.) LONDON'. October 1.1 With the news that certain vessels have left the Dominions for London and with better news regarding the .strike, it is not likely that butter prices will go much higher than they now are. During the past week, however, they have continued to advance. English butter is in short supply at country markets, and the average price for best quality is '2s 2d per lb. Irish butter brings stiffer rates with only small quantities available, and quality is very line —creameries 21«s to 22Us, unsalted 218s to 2205, separators 180s to lS4s. and factories 170s to 17os. Danish butter • continues to harden in value, and there has been more enquiry at 234s to 2:3(55; f.o.b. prices 228s to 2325. The Copenhagen official butter quotation is 448 kroner, against 42(j kroner last week; in this country 5s per cwt has to be added to the kroner price quoted. Germany was a large buyer of Danish butter before October Ist, when the import duty came into forofc. Dutch butter has met with more attention, and quotations are tending upwards at 218s to 2225. Germany has bought little, but > prices, are rising in Holland. French" butte-r is 8s dearer —osiers, slightly altered 200s to 2065, and rolls 23s to 245. Esthonia butter <is again dearer at 215s to 2205, and best Latvian at 205s to 210s. There were moderate arrivals from Siberia, and prices ruled from 184s to ]9os; stocks in cold stores are being reduced. Canadian butter has sharply advanced with increasing scarcity, and attempts to make re-purchases on this market for the other side owing to the .shortage in Canada have been without success. Total shipments from Canada to this country from May Ist to September 24th were 294,961 pkgs, compared with 109,927 J>kgs in the same period of last yea.r. Argentine butter is in moderate demand and steady from 176s to 2045. Cheese in Demand. Quotations remain firm for all de- • scriptions of cheese. Increased strength is noticeable, and, the outlook is bullish for the next few months. The shipping strike has prevented shipments of new season's produce being made from. New Zealand. English cheese is in short supply, and extreme rates continue, to be made. There-is a good enquiry for Scotch cheese, and coloured is scarce and wanted. Canadian cheese is-steadily hardening in value, with stocks of New Zealand exhausted. White on the spot realises 118s to 120s, and coloured 118s to 120s, but the demand is restricted. Total shipments from Canada to this country from May 1 Ist to September 24th were 825.873 boxes, compared with 790,717 boxes in the same period of 1924. New ' Zealand is nominal in. value, r.nd as , it is doubtful whethe." any, supplies WjJ; be received . from that country thus •year, the demand necessarily will be •thrown more and more \ij>on Canadian, ; which must seriously tend to curtail shocks. Outputs August-December are .quoted 102s *6d to 103s. Septemberv .October 106s, November-December 101s, October-February 103s, c.i.f. Fin- ' nish Gruyere is in quiet demand at Is 4d for "best, and Is 3d lb for seconds.

WANGANUI WOOL SALE. J KEEN COMPETITION FOR GOOD '".' :-■ LOTS. (fbbss associatiok mlbgram.)' . WANGANUI, November 24. "'' The. first local wool sale of the season was held to-day,: when 11,000 bales were offered. 1 'The'selection, was only an average ono, and included a fair of wool held over,from the previous season. Owing to bad weather this season's clip is not nearly so well-grown. It is difficult to compare prices with recent sales, as, the wools offered were of a distinctly different type, but it seems that the market is- firm -at the leyel of values established. All well-grown wools were in good demand, and met with keen competition. The bulk of the offering was disposed of to Continental houses, with good support from Bradford operators. America purchased very little, as the offering was hardly suitable to her requirements. The range of prices was as under;— d. d.

BUTTER AND CHEESE. DECREASED EXPORTS.' (PBESS ASSOCIATICK TBLXGEAK.) WELLINGTON, November 24. It is stated by Mr W. Grounds, chair-, man of the New Zealand Dairy Export Board of Control that .up to the present date there is a decline of from fifteen to twenty per cent, in the dairy production figures for the Dominion, compared with this period Jast year. This is attributable to the almost incessant rains which heralded the spring and were followed by continuous drying winds, resulting in the ground being parched "and hardened to a serious extent. The returns so far indicate that there will be a considerable decline in revenue, although much will depend on the prices secured at Home when the market opens for the new year.

CANTERBURY MARKETS. (by ora ccuifiaciAL editob.) Tuesday Evening. .Business is almost at its quietest state at pres-i-nt, ncd advantage is being taken by some firms to allow their staffs to go awjy or. holiday. The potato season has practically finished, ami only a few oi-.1-ts are comin;,' to hand from the North Island, ."ionic small quantities of poiatoe.-: have been sent to Wellington iaieiy. and by the steamer Waipahi a further small lot is being dispatched to Auckland—the iirst for about ten days. The quality of tubers offering is.not of. the best, and the little trade that is being done is on the hand-to-mouth basi.<. The price lo farmers is from £3 10s to £3 Ms. The position regarding other lines of produce remains the same as it was ai the week-end. The following are nominal quotations, free ot commission on trucks, sacks extra, except where otherwise stated: Wheat—Tuscan (is fid, Hunters b's 10d, Pearl 7s f.0.b., sacks extra; fowl wheat 7s. Oats—Garten A's :-is,.lod to 4s, P.'s 3s 7d to 3s Sd; Algerians 3s to 3s (id. Chaff—Good bright, £4; secondary, £3 10s. White Clover—lid to 12d a lb. Cowgraes—Od to lOjcl. Italian JRyegrass—3s 3d to 3s (id. Perennial Ryegrass —4s to 4s 3d for good. Cocksfoot —To 7rl. Partridge Peas—6s 3d for export quality. Flour—£lß a ton f.o.b. nearest port, smaller packing, 1001b £l9; 50's, £lO 12s 6d; 25's, £2O. Pollard—£9 f.o.b. nearest port, 10s extra for smaller packing. liran —£8 per ton f.o.b. nearest port, I.os extra for smaller packing. RANGIORA MARKET. There waa a considerable improvement in the entry of sheep at the Kangiora market yesterday, 1309 being yarded. Fats in butchers' lota to'aKed 155 and the principal sales were. 20 ewes- at 31s id, 1 at 26s lOd, 8 at 325, and smaller lots at 34s 6d to 37s 3d. Five fat hoggets in the wool made 40s 6d. There was a good sale of stores, although a few lots were passed in. The sales made were: 84 ewes and lambs, all counted 21s 2d, 103 at 17s 9d, .12 at 24?, 40 at 25e, 48 at 23s Id, 38 ewe hoggets at 24s 2d, 40 at 33e 7d, 81 at 23s to 23s 3d, 58 wether hoggets 19s 4d, 104 two-tooth wethers at 265, 45 at 22s lOd, 20 at 22s lOd, and 22 at 245.

The number of cajttle penned was 42, mostly dairy cows. The sale was a slow one. Springing heifers £i to £l3, store cows £2 10s io £5, j'earling heifers to £2 ss, and fat cows £7;, bulls, £3 io ,£8 18s 6d.. There weie 94 pigs forward. The best stores eo'd at 50s to 635, others 40s to 465, large weaners at 30s to 345, and small 17s to 28s.

Poultry—Roosters, 10s to lis a couple, hens 8s 9d, ducks 7s 9d. Produce—Chickwheat 20s lo 27s a. sack, oats 12s 6d to 225, barley 12s 6d, catsheaf chaff 3s -to 4s fid, table potatoes 10s to 12s, apples 3b 6d a case, lettuce 2sa a dozen bundles.

• Sheepskins—UAKbreds to 169, orossbreds lis, pelts 2a 6d to 3's, calfskins 2s 6d to ss, wool crutchihgs 6d lb, wool Is Id, pieces 7d, and fat 2Jd lb., ASHBURTON MARKET. There was a large attendance at the Tinwa!d yards yesterday, when there was an entry of 1220 sheep and 48 head of cattle. The sheep inc. uded 321 fat ewes, 187 fat wethers, 23 lambs, 22 hoggets, and 667 stores. The market opened firm for fats at about last week's rates,, but as the sale proceeded,- prioes - declined and there was a very considerable.: drop on the prices realised''at the Ashburton yards last week. There was a demand, for tha sheep but not at •vendors', values, and an unusual number of pens were passed at auction. The principal sales -were:— ' ' ~ Ew«-iShorn, 10 at 24s 9d, 2 at 23s 6d, 14 at 18s *od, 8 at 31s, 4 at 37s 3d, 4 at 21« 6d 16 a.t, 235, 16 at 22s 7d, 12 at 27s 6d, 12 at 27s' 6d, 16 at" 26s lOd, 15 at 23s 6d, 4 at 225, 7. at 7d,' 5 at 21s 3d, 9 at 23s Id, 11 at 20s, 17 at 23s Id. In the wool, 5 at 265, 6 at 30s 6d, 6 at 32s 4d, 10 at 24s 4d, 5 at 335, 10 afe 27s 6d, 8 at 24s 6d, 5 at 36a Id, 4 at 16s 9d,' 11 at 30s, 5 at 27s Id, 7 at 28s. 7d. Wethers—Shorn, 24 at 36s 6d, 9 at 39s 2d, 7 at 36a, 10 at 36s 6d, 17 at 33s 3d, 15 at 375, 18 at 36s 9d, 6 at 32s 10d, 5 at 36s Id, 5 at 36a 4d. In the wool: 2 at 37s 6d, 2 at 355, 2 at 455. Lambs—2 at 34s 6d, 1 at 295, 5 at 34a 9d. Hoggets—22 at 31s 3d. .Stores—Ninety-nine crossbred faL'ingmouth ewes and lambs (about half of each and all counted) at 21s, 45 two-tooth halfbred ewes at 35s 2d, 40 crossbred wether hoggets at 30s 7d, 127 two-tooth three-quarterbred ewes (shorn) at 34s 9d, 132 failing-mouth ewes (in the wool) with lambs (about half I of each and all counted) at 16s, 23 crossbred ewe hoggets '(in tho wool) and 2 wether hoggets at 26s 7d, 9 failing-mouth crossbred ewes (in the wool) and 9 lambs at 20s 9d, 80' failing-mouth crossbred ewes and lambs (about half of each) at 21s, 29 sound and failing-mouth three-quarterbred ewes (in the wool) and .25 lambs at 22s sd.' Cattle—Fat cows brought £ll to £l4 15s, heifers £6 19s 1 , cows in profit realised £4 to £9 ss, yearling heifers £2 7s 6d.

NEW GUINEA. DEVELOPMENT COMPANY. RUBBER PROFITS GROWING. (IBOIC . OT7B OWN C JBBESPOITDBHT.) LONDON, October 20. Sir Westby Perceval presided over the third annual meeting of the British New Guinea Development Company, and was able to inform the shareholders that to-day the company had no debt 3in London, Papua, ex Australia^

The output of rubber last year increased from 18G,(i06lb to 323,6G0!b, and the profit was 6d per pound, as compared with about Jd per pound in the previous year. The main points in the rubßer situation are that the Board succeeded last July in selling forward for the remainder of this year 7J tons per month at an average price of 4s per pound, end that the company has secured 2s 6Jd per pound for 5 tons per month from January to December, 1936. The latter contract represents less than onethird of the estimated rubber output, but, nevertheless, will cover the whole of the rub-ber-growing ocsts for the. year. Thus the whole cf the cash received for- the remaining two-thirds of the rubber crop will represent clear profit. Copra and Cotton. "Of the total planted area of coconuts—namely, 7878 acres—quite 6000 seres should be by now in bearing," said the chairman, "and we must frankly admit that our output of 1330 tons of copra during the period under review was much less than it ought to have been. A programme of special cultivation was consequently authorised, with a view to 'increasing the production. It will take time before the full effects of this expenditure can fructify, but, obviously, if the crop oan be substantially ine*eased, the coat of production will automatically be lowered, and we look fcr a larger output of copra and a greater profit per ton than we have secured hitherto. "So far as cotton is concerned, we have been dogged with misfortune in our various experiments. In one case it was a sudden and very violent attack by caterpillars, and in another case the plantation was flooded by an abnormal rainfall in a district where such heavy rain had never before been experienced. "We have had a Tew small shipments from Papua, which have sold at a&tisfactdry prices', and w», are continuing 1 the cultivation in a small way in the hope <£ hotter, jfcsulto." <

Fine Crossbred— Super .,- -, ,• 14J to 16* Average .. . . llh to 14* Inferior ... « ., 9 toll* Medium Crossbred— Super .. , „ 14' to 14J •Average ... . 13 to 14 Inferior . 11 to 12* Coarse Crossbred — Super . 13 to 13* Average .. . 11$ to 13 Inferior .. . 8 to 10 Low Crossbred— Super .. . 12 tol3Jx Average . 10 to 12i Inferior .. .' 9 to 10* Hoggets— ■;....'' 48-50 . >14}tol61 • 46-48 ."■' 14 to 15 , 44-46 ... ;.,.-'12 tol3f • 40-44 .. . j ii io to 12 36-40 .. -' l m' r s t0ll Lambs — w: Down ■ .. *.§,14*tol5* Fine .. :■:■ 13i to 15 Medium . 10i to 11J Seedy and Inferior .'" 7 to 9J Bellies and Pieces — Crossbred, good to super 8} to 10* Low to medium . 6*to 8£ Locks. .■ 4 to'5* Crutchings— Medium to good . 8Ho H Inferior and seedy o to 8