COMMERCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 456, 15 March 1909, Page 8

COMMERCIAL.

THE. SHARE. AIARICET. Sales of-Natioiial Bunks at-IEo.Ss. and West-port-Stockton at'' b's. 6(1;;; wero * reported. Bank of New Zealand shares were 'depressed, sellers .. quoting ,£8 lis. National Banks, buyers .£5 2s. '6d., sellers JJS 3s. fid.; Wellington Investment, sellers lis! Cel.; Wellington Trust and Loan, buyers sellers JS! 2s. 6d.j New Zealand Loan , and-Mercantile, sellers 3s. 3d.; Wellington Gas, S£lo paid, buyers .£l6 17s. Gd.; new issue, buyers 12s. cd. premium; National Insurance, buyers .£1 Bs. 3d.; New Zealand Insurance, buyers .£3 135.; Gear Meat, ,£1 paid, buyers £&:10s.; Heat Export, i.- 12s. Gd. paid, buyers i'3;os. Gd., .sellers ,£'3 Is. 6d.; Wcllington Woollen, sellers <£3; Westport Coal, buyers . . .fffi-Is., sellers <£6 35.; . West.portiStockton, buyers 8s. 1 3d., sellers'Bs. 9d;; Hilniraugi Coal, buyers lYs.; Lcyland-O'Brien Timber, sellers \ Jil 2s. 9d.; New Zealand Portland 1 Cement, buyers ,E1 lis. 3d., sellers £1 15s.;■ jVVard and Co., brewery shares, sellers ■ £i 175.; Taranaki I Petroleum) sellers Bs. 6d.; Sharland's, ordinary and preference, sellers 18s. Cd. . , THE MINING MARKET. Sales of Talisman at £2 ss. 6d., £2 65., and VC2 ss. 9d.',' and Wailii at JGS 1,75... Cd., wero' reported/ The quotations wero; as under:—' Buyers. Sales. .£ "s. d. ,£ s. d. ■ s. d. Waihi G'd Junction 15 9 1 G 0 - ' — Wailii '. 818 C 819 6 817 6 Talisman | 2 5 6 2 6 0 2 5 9 Tungiaro, Is. paid ... 0 0 2 0 0 5 — eeTangiaro, lid. paid — 0 0 4 . — Big River/,, ■ ... ... 1116 116 0 — Capital applications. . The dem'and for capital,-in;-London 'this year so far has" been vbrji proribuhce'd. "During; the month of 'January the capita!,applications re : gistered l'n Great . Britain amounted to i£38,191,18!fj : and was nearly ,£10,C00,000 ahead of • any previous January aggregate,,: and, nearly three and\-i half times greater-than'' the average prior to 1909. The total was made up of— ' £ . .. ;V" - e . Public-loans f ' 23,315,400 Miscellaneous .... ... 1,219,000 'Issues ?by existing companies .13,487,283' •Mining .412,500 _ V-'' •. .£38,491,183 'And there was, in addition to tho above, bill issues for making the 'grand total •£4G,691,183 V . The Customs revenue and beer duty collected at Wellington last ..week;', amounted to JC7875 Is. 7d. and i£2ll 17s.:'respectively, which shows a great falling ofr compared, with the figures for,the corresponding period (of last year; viz., revenue, i5£r7,462 17s. lid.; beer duty, ,£IG7 lis. On Saturday tho amount .of. 'revenue collected was £Sii 16s. 2d. as against .£4419 lis. 3d. for tho same day of last . ' .. . GERMAN S'TEEL' EXPORTS. A striking example of what Germany is able to accomplish in a period of declining industrial prosperity is. afforded by the returns ivhich have just been'issue'd by the Imperial Statistical Board in' Berlin in relation to. the imports and exports of .iron and steel and manufactures' thereof" during.-1908. The figures, which represent, a repetition of what occurred a. few years ago on thoVfornler downward movement in trade, onco again show that, when the domestic demand declines, it is possible for German iron and stael producers /to accommodate, themselves to a very large'extent to the altered circumstances by promoting tho export trade as,far as possible in order to secure a certain amount of compensation, Whilst at the same time the imports of iron and steel from other countries are curtailed, .the final result being a .double gain on- tho balance of the turnover.;' It is'shown'by the official statistics that the total imports of iron and steel in 1908 amounted, to 555.910 tons, as compared with 813,345 tons in, 1907.. This represents a reduction, of 254,405 tons,'of which 190,515 tons were pig-iron 'constituting reduced purchases from Great Britain, whilst tho remainder related to scrap-iron, plates in .'he rough, tin plates and bars. On, tho other hand, the exports of iron and steel' reached a total of 3,732,428 tons in 1908, as .contrasted with. 3,455,889 tons in tho preceding, year, or ail augmentation of 276,539 tons. The reduction of 254,405 tons in the imports and the advance.of 276,539 tons, in tho exports indicate a total gain of 530,944 tons as compared with ,1907, atul- this quantity..also represents, tho liicreitsp .in. tlio sin-phi's of total exports) over imports' as against, the previous 12 months, v < ■■' An examination of the detailed figures shows that tho expansion .iu exports;.was. mainly composed of«bloomi,billets,- etc.,-of.which 471,865 tons wero sent, ont of the..country last. yeaT, as against 227,531$ tons in 1007.' The increase .under this particular heading w.as.ehioily, if .not entirely, dne 'to ' the considerably larger tonnage of semi-finished, steel which was sold to rolling 'niillf in Great Britain for working up into manufactures. The exports .of pig-iron also diminished by 18,000 tons, but those of finished products increased, by about 6000 tons over 1907.'.Among the numerous variations in the export'trade may,be mentioned increases'in tho tonnage of bars, rough plates, drawn and rolled rods, galvanised and coppered wire, rail-' way wheels and wheel set.wnd axles, and wire nails. On the other' hand, the manufactures which experienced a decline related to the exports of joists and other shapes, railway rails, sleepers and fish' plates and rolled and drawn tubes. - NOTES. The deposit and current accounts of, the leading London banks, amounted, at the end' of last year, to 435'} millions, being about'32s millions in excess of the figures shown . a year ago. Such 'h l ' largo increase is exceptional, and . fully half :tlie amount is due to amalgamation. The value, of the Argentino exports for 1903 amounted to .£73,201,068, and exhibited an ■ increase of ,£13,960,194 .over,, 1907..,.The imports were valued at .£5-1.,594,547, and the balanco in 'favour of Argentina—that-is,-the excess of exports ovpr imports—totalled .-018,606,521. Imports of meat from Argentine into tho United Kingdom, (luring 190f< comnriscd 3,262.903, carcasses ,of 'mutton, 322|583 carcasses of lamb, and 2,30,0,590 quarters "bf beef,'equal in weight to tons. The trade; too, shows great'., expansion during the lastitwelve months owing to -improved methods of conveying chilled, beef, nnd I'atagonia is now taking a rapidly increasing ,share in the,, export of mutton nnd .lamb;' •■■■ According'to the opinion of the London meat market, it is considered certain that tho ' four firms] comprising the beef trust of Chicago, will dominate the Argentine market. About this, there .-can. be no doubt, said the chairman of;' the,"Smithfield nnd Argentine Freezing Company at! the rinniial,. meeting'of his ..shareholders held, in Loudon last Noyeni-. ber. .He explained that even if none-of', tho existing. companies sell out to tho trust, that body will erc-ct works, of its own; and'sooner or later,, will rulo the market; it is only a quc.-.tion or, money, ahd, although the shares of tho various companies may be strongly held, if the price"offered is good enough the.present holders will get rid. of their shares. Argentina has been cutting into the qhilled beef tiade of America ,on a very large scale, and as her experts-of this class of meat continue to increase; it has thoroughly alarmed the trrst. When this stage is reached the control of tho' British market by the Chicago Trust will be practically complete. . FEIIvDING; jJIAR EflT REPORT. Messrs. .A." TT. Atkinson and Co., Ltd., report brisk business throughout the week. A large entry of pigs c.urie forward on Friday, and values were'about; on a par with last week's rates. Young pigs of gooil quality wero forward in considerable number. The poultry'pens-tferc well filled awl good quality birds sold well, there is a strong demand , for good table birds. Quotations 2s. 9d., 3s. 9d., 45., is. 6d.; slips, 4s„ ss. 3d., Cs. 3d., 6s. 9d.; Bs. 6d., to 9s. Cd.; stores, 12s. Gd., 14s. 3d., 14s. 9d„ to 15s 1 Cd; medium to good porkers, 2Gs 3d., 28s. 6d., to 30s. 3d.; empty, sows," 245., ; 255. 6d., to 275. Gd.; boqr, lSs/ Gd. Poultry—Roosters, Is, 3d. to 25.; young cockerels, 9d. to Is. Bd.; liens, Is. 3d. to Is. sd.; : ducks, 2s. 2d.; geese, 2s. 7d. to 3s. Produce—New chnfY, i' 2 15s. per ton; feed oats, 2s. 3d. per bushel; table potatoes, 3s, Bd. to 4s. per 9011): bag; onions, small, 3s. 3d, per bag of 901b.; .cucumbers, Is., Is. Gd. psi ease; cabbages, 2s.;j>er. sack. I'ruit—Tomatoes 25., 2s; 9(1., 3s. 3d.-, 3s. Cel. per case; peaches, 45.; damijon ;phmis,' J-d. to 3d. per lb.; apples, 2s. to ss. 3d: per 'ease; pears, 2v 3d., 35.", 45.! 4s. 9d. per case. V.'e hold during tho wceli successful clearing' sales on behalf of Mrs Cohen and large sale of boardingiiottse furni tare and .equipment-.on behalf of Mr. H. D Trevena. Over four hundred lots wero offeree nnd disposed; of, and made values largely abovi expectations.; SHEEPSKIN, HIDE, AND TALLOW SALE. The New Zealand Loan and Meroantih Agency Co., Ltd., report as under:—At our sah on Friday wo brought forward a lareo catalogu. of skins and hides, and a small quontit; of tallow. There was n numerous attendant of buyers, and competition was keen for al sound lots of skins and hides, but faulty lot: wo to nejlsQted, Since January 29, when tin

Inst salo of dry skins was held locally, prices have advanced about Jd. per lb. l'tir sound skins, and prices for good hides aro about equal to the salo of February 12, but sound calfskins are about M. lower. We quote:— Sheepskins, fine crossbred, GUI. to 7d.; coarso and medium crossbred, 5Jd. to Gd.; lambs', 41d. to fijd.; dead and broken skins, 3.1(1. to 5d.; pelts, sound, 3Jd. to 43d.; pelts, faulty, Id. to 3id.; pelts, green, Is. 9d. to 2s. lid. each; lambskins, green. Is. 9d. to 2s. Gd. each. Hides, ox, medium, 5Jd. to Gd.; cow, heavy, 5Jd. to 5J(1.; cow and ox, light, oil. to s{d.; damaged hides, 2d. to -ijd.; calfskins, sound, fid. to 7}d.; calfskins, faulty, 2d. to 4Jd. Tallow, in ensks, in shipping ortler, .£23 10s. to .£2l ss. per ton. DREDGING RETURNS. (by TELEGRAPH—I'RESS association.) Dunedin, March 13 •Latest dredging returns:—Wnikaka United, No. 1, ISoz. lOdwt.; No. 2, 12oz. Sdwt.; Rising Sun, 400z.; Rise and Shine, No. 1, GGoz. Gdwt.; No. 2, 40oz. 12<lwt.; Central Chnrlton, 1-loz. 13dwt.; Mannherikia, 350z.; Olrig, 6oz. 7dwt. .. LONDON WOOL SALES. (".Y TELECUA I'll —J'ItKSS ASSOCIA TIO.V—COI'TIHOIIT.I London, March 12. I The wool sales included tho following clips:— Gear, 7Jd.; R. S. over T., 9d.; Wliana, 10jd.; Otairi, Bijd,; Akitito; 10jd. Later At tho wool sales thero was the keenest cu. petition, and the highest rates vr-e maintained. . ~ / LONDON; MARKETS. Messrs. Dalgety and Company, Limited, report having received the following cable messages from their London house, under date of March 11 Wool.—Sales continue active, competition is brisk, and buying is,general from all quartern. • ~:Tallow.-4-Sii!ce on'r; last wire, prices are at 'par 'to/3d.:' per ' cwt.' lower. Very littlo is doing ' Frozen Meat.—There is a limited demand for .alt. classes, of. New Zealand frozen meat. The ■■'market for mutton is weak, and looks like going lower, whilst the lamb market has a downward tendency. Though prices for beef 'ore nominally unchanged, it is very difficult to sell at latb rates. Quotations arc as fellow:—New Zealand prime ox beef fores, 2ijd.; do., hinds, 3d.; New Zealand prime.crossbred lamb, Canterbury, heavy, .43(1.; do., light,*''s'd:; do., 'North Island, heavy, 4§d.; d 0.,. light, 5d.; New- Zealand prime crossbred niUtton, Canterbury, heavy, 3!d.; do., light, 3?.d\; do., North. Island, heavy, 2;d.; do., light, 3gd. I