FINANCE AND COMMERCE

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22936, 5 February 1940, Page 9

FINANCE AND COMMERCE

GROCERY TRADE

PRICES AND PROSPECTS Trading in the retail section of the grocery business was reported as being on the quiet side last week. This, according to a prominent retailer, is due to the restrictions on the supply ot petrol, which means that a great many people who make regular weekly trips to the city are not now coming into town. The absence of this section pi the buying public has apparently already been felt in the city. Country storekeepers will benefit correspondingly. Shortage of imported grocery stock* is still the chief concern of the wholesale houses, and it seems that the position will become more acute in the not distant future. Many lines are now definitely either in very short supply or out of stock completely, but mention of these by name is at present not advisable as it would produce panic buying by the general public. Tea A catalogue of 2.750,0001b of Indian tea was submitted at a recent auction held in Calcutta, Quality disclosed a seasonable improvement, and notwithstanding this the market was irregular and inclined toward unsteadiness. All tippy teas sold well and the demand for this type was strong and keen. Plain liquoring teas of the Broken Pekoe type weVe easier and down 6 pies. In Java last week, the offerings disclosed many lines of attractive quality, which sold, readily, especially fine grade teas. At present Java buyers are seeking principally common brokens and fannings, and for these the market is firm at previous rates. Pollard and Bran There has been no change in the Australian prices for bran and pollard. both of which are at £4 a ton f.0.b., Melbourne. Blaestone The British market for bluestone has again advanced by approximately 4s 6d per cwt. This Increase is due to higher costs at the factory, and restricted supplies of the chief material, coppen Batter -Separator butter is in abundant supply and the wholesale price, from the farmer to city stores, is Is per lb. Paint An overseas message states! that with the increased price of linseed oiL coupled with further increases in the cost of containers and some recent advances in the market for dry colours, the prices for mixed paints quoted to ' New Zealand are expected to advance at any time. Baking Powder and Costard Powder An advance in price of Is a dozen is announced in th.- standard size packs of Edmonds baking powder and Edmonds custard powder. Salmon Locally, stocks of salmon are not large, but relief is in sight as shipments are due from Canada about the end of the present month. Reports from Australia state that stocks there are very low, and it is difficult to obtain quotations for shipment to this ■Dominion. Peas For some time no quotations have been received from Australia for peas, but this week a quotation of 5s 3d f.p.b. Melbourne was announced. Ccconu t Further supplies of both desiccated and shredded coconut are now landing. Landed costa are-exceedingly high, and a rise in the retail price must follow as soon as the impending landings are used for stock. In Colombo, the market is 5s per cwt higher than when the present landings were shipped. This means that future arrivals will land higher than the shipments reierred to above. Sago and Tapioca The Singapore market for both sago and tapioca is a fraction easier. Both these fines are now standing at extremely high prices, with no immediate prospect of relief. Heavy buying by European countries is reported to have been the cause of the sudden upward price movement for these commodities. Canned Fruit New season’s canned apricots in Australia are selling very freely. Supplies of new pack peaches will be ready \ this month, and pears later. There has been a partial failure in the fruit crops in some districts in Australia, and this, it is reported, will diminish the output for the present season. Heavy orders of canned fruits are reported to be awaiting shipment to London, and according to a report just to hand, prospects generally are for short stocks, and a complete sell out before next season. Crystallised Cherries The crop of cherries this season in Australia has been much below the average, and supplies. of bulk cherries for crystallising are short. This may later affect New Zealand manufacturers, who have drawn on Australia for * their supplies for processing in New Zealand. Eggs Supplies of fresh eggs last week were not so plentiful us previously. Prices remain unchanged since last report. City stores are still obtaining their requirements from farmers at the following rates:—Firsts Is sd, seconds Is 4d, ducks Is 4d, all net and free pf commission.

LONDON PRODUCE MARKETS

FRIDAY’S N CLOSING PRICES LONDON, February 3. Friday’s closing prices in the London produce markets-were; — i Cotton—Spot 8.29 d per lb, March 7.88 d. : Rubber—Para £l3 a ton, plantation smoked £ll 15s. Linseed Oil —£40 10s a ton. Turpentine—£2 14s 9d per cwt. SYDNEY STOCK EXCHANGE SATURDAY’S SALES

r SALES OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY

Owners of lost property which has found its way to police stations throughout New Zealand will be given another fortnight in which to claim their belongings. Property in the hands of the policie. if not claimed before Saturday, February 17, will be sold by public auction, according to an announcement by the Commissioner of Police (Mr D. J. Cummings) in the Gazette. Sales will be held in the various police districts throughout the Dominion.

BANK OF ENGLANE RETURN

Reserve at Lower Level EXPANSION OF NOTE CIRCULATION (CSITED PRESS ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT.) LONDON, February 1. The Bank of England return for th< week ended January 31 is as follows: ISSUE DEPARTMENT -E £ Notes Issued:— Govt. In circu- debt ILOOO.OOC lation 327.700,000 Other Govt. In bank- securlIng dept. 52,500,000 ties 564.000.00 C Other securities 4.500.00 C Silver coin 500,000 •580.000.000 Gold coin and bullion 200,000 £580,200,000 £580.200.000 •Amount of fiduciary issue. BANKING DEPARTMENT £ £ Capital 14,500.000 Govt, seRest 3,500,000 curlties 119.300,000 Deposits— Discs & Public 39,700,000 advances 3,100,000 Bankers 98,200,000 Other seOther curlties 24,500,000 ac/s. 44,300,000 Notes dc coin 63.300.000 £200,200,000 . £200,200.000 Proportion of reserve to liabilities, 29.22 per cent., compared with 32.27 per cent, last week. The principal Items of the above return compare as follows with those of last Jan. 24. Jan. 31. £ £ Deposits^ Public .. 56,700,000 39.700.000 Bankers .. 80,100,000 98.200,000 Other accounts 43,000,000 44.300,00 169,800,000 182,200,000 Securities— Government .. 112,300,000 119,300,000 Discts.. advances 3,200.000 3.100,000 Other securities .. 24,100,000 24,500,000 Reserve .. 58,200,000 53,300.000 Note circulation' .. 522,800,000 527.700.000 Gold'coin and bullion 200,000 200,000 The Bank of England discount rate remains at 2 per cent. CONSOLS AND STOCKS LATEST LONDON QUOTATIONS LONDON. February 1. The following are the latest quotations for Government securities compared with quotations during last week:—

LONDON METALS MARKET LONDON. February 1. Silver is quoted at 21 "d an ounce standard, and 23Jd fine. Tin is quoted at £236 10s to £236 15s a ton, spot and forward. SYDNEY PRODUCE MARKET SYDNEY, February 1. Wheat is depressed but prices remain firm. Silo grain Is quoted at 3s 9Jd and bagged at 4s IJd. Other quotations are: Flour, £l2 10s; bran and pollard. £4 ss; potatoes. Tasmanian £B, others £6 10s; onions, Victorian brown £4; maize, yellow 5s 6d, white ss.

COMPANY NEWS

DOMINION INVESTMENT AND BANKING INTERIM DIVIDEND RATE UNCHANGED IXHE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, February 4. An unchanged interim dividend at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum has been declared by the Dominion Investment and Banking Association, payable on February 20. BRICKS AND MORTAR, LTD. The directors of Bricks and Mortar, Ltd., Sydney, state they propose, in view of the increase in taxation, to reduce quarterly dividends from a rate of 8 per cent, to 7 per cent, per annum. SUPPORT FOR BANKING SHARES COLONIAL ISSUES POPULAR IN LONDON^ (vkitid press association—cqptbight.J (Received February 3, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, February 2. Gilt-cdgeds are ■ nominal on the Stock Exchange. Rails have monopolised attention in the market in the last week. . Investment support was noted for banking shares, among which Australian and New Zealand issues were popular. The “Financial Times” says that traders welcomed Sir John Simon’s promise to investigate an allegation that the Ministry of Supply was issuing wool at 30 per cent, above the requisitioning prices. The city has noted approvingly the National Provincial Bank chairman’s i disclosure that all the banks had reached an . agreement for mutual assistance in case of need.

MINING

ARGO DREDGE The Argo dredge return for the las week was 320z, from 14,000 yard; treated in 135 hours. BARRYTOWN During the month of January th Barrytown dredge ran 393 hour: treated 133,000 cubic yards, for a re turn of 1103oz of gold. KANIERI During the month of January th Kanieri dredge ran 517 hours, treale 349.000 cubic yards, for a return c 1145qz of gold. ARAHURA During the month of January th Arahura dredge ran 521 hours, treate 331.000 cubic yards, for a return o 16460z of gold. GOLDEN SANDS Gplden Sands reports a return o 51oz for 70 shifts. BIG RIVER The Big River report for the weel ended February 1 is as follows: —No. i level, North Stope; Filling south end North end stone 4ft wide. No. 6 Level South Block: Stone 4ft wide, lengtl 10ft south of the rise. Shaft: Sun! Oft. Total 102 ft. Battery: 33 tons o: stone sent to battery. 1 WORKSOP EXTENDED The Worksop Extended return foi the week ended February 1 was 250s for 113J hours and 9500 yards. NGAHERE The Ngahere dredge obtained 17S ounces 7dwt for the preliminary dig-ging-in period. The estimated yardage was 105,000 yards. TIN STATISTICS LONDON, February 2. World visible iupplies of tin at the end of January were 24,798 torts. The Straits carry-over was 4998 tons, supplies 18,022 tons, and deliveries 18,244 tons, '

Sales on the Sydney on Saturday included:— Commonwealth Bonds— Stock Exchange £ s. a. 4 per cent., 1941 .. 101 11 3 4 per cent., 1961 ,. 106 15 0 Bank of New Zealand 1 16 0 Tooths 2 12 9 Associated Newspapers 0 17 6 Broken Hill Proprietary 2 8 3 Colonial Sugar 50 17 6 Bavid Jones 1 13 6 Mark Foy 0 16 9

Jan. 25. Feb. 1. British— £ R. d. £ R. d. Consols, 31 p.c. .. 74 0 0 74 10 0 Funding Loan, 4 p.c., 1950-00 . Ill 1C 0 112 0 0 War Loan, 31 p.c.. 1952 Con Loan, 3J p.c., 98 15 0 99 0 0 1961 99 15 0 100 0 0 Victory Bonds. 4 p.c. 110 10 0 110 10 0 Commonwealth— 5 p.c., 1945-75 .. 105 7 6 106 10 0 4 p.c.. 1943-48 102 12 6 102 7 6 33 p.c., 1948-53 .. 102 10 0 101 7 6 3i p.c., 1956-61 91 12 6 93 5 0 3 p.c., .. New South' Wales— 89 12 6 90 5 0 34 p.c., 1930-50 .. 98 0 0 99 0 0 Victoria— 3 p.c., 1929-49 95 0 0 96 5 0 43 p.c., 1940-60 .. 101 0 0 101 5 0 3 p.c., 1940-60 .. 104 15 0 106 5 0 Queensland — 3 p.c., 1922-47 98 0 0 96 10 0 5 p.c., 1940-60 102 0 0 102 2 6 South Australia— 5 p.c.. 1945-73 105 2 6 105 2 6 3 p.c., 1916 (opt.) Western Australia .. 73 12 6 75 0 0 99 17 6 100 17 6 Tasmania— 4 p.c., 1940-50 101 0 0 101 10 0 New Zealand— 4J p.c., 1045-58 .. 103 10 0 102 0 0 3 p.c., 1945 98 17 6 97 5 0