THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 531, 11 June 1909, Page 6

THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

,'..' ■. .-■ .>.,.: „,.,.■ . , ;', A week-or two ago thpße in the hemp trade were inclined to take an optimistic view of the situation, and tlicy yreia justified, heqause a dejnand' set in * from America,'and an actual adyancein values • took, place locally. The prospects for a section of the labour m.arket looted momentarily brighter. / The demand,' however, was.short-lived. Still it was believed that something had occurrecl (in Manila to divert American buyers to the New Zealand fibre. The evidence that is available unfortunately does not warrant any undue optimism/The Manila output has shown' no signs of decreasing'.'' Curing the past six we.eks the outturn has been 144,000 bales, equal to an Average of 24,000 bales per week. On May 1 the High Commissioner in his commercial; cable stated: "The hemp market is quiet. There is Bmall business dQing and no immediate change is; expected. Eeports jndicate that heavy shipments of /Hemp are expected from Manila." The abqve figures show that : the shipments have been heavy, for the 144,000 bales compares .with 140,000 bales in the six weeks' immediately prccei ing. The. quotations for fair current" jManila and G.F. New Zealand on spot jdurjng the last, six weeks we.re las. under:— ■-'■•••.*-•■ ■. ■ •• j - : New Manila. ; Zealand. £-. "s. d. '' £ s. d. May 1 .... 21 10 0 ... , S3 • 5 0 May 8.. .'■;-■ ... 21 10 .0 .'„.-'.. 23 < 0 0 May 15 '• ~!, SI 5 0 ... 23 0 0 May 22 ... Sl'.lO 0 ..; 22 16 0 i May 29 ... 23 0 0 ... 23' 0 0 I June 5 ... 22 0 0 ... 23 0 0 1 For the week ending May 29 the Manila output ffias 12,000 hales, as against 27,000 1 bales in the preyious week, a shortage of nearly 30 per cent., and shrinkage may have caused the market to advance 30s. per ton as shown 'abpve. ' If sp, the shortago was made good in the following week, when the'out-turn "was 25,00.0 bales. 'But the American buying could not have been ini fluenced by tiic statistical position of i Manila hemp in London. It is inore 1 likely that some manufacturers were hardi pressed to deliyer binder twine imfcedi- , ately (and in this-connection'.it must bo ■ remembered that iimprjca is just about to i harvest its crop of cereals), and so tem- ■ porary demand was experienced for the ; New Zealand product. In any case it !. must be noted that Now Zealand hemp [ advanced ss. per topl durjng~the week i ended -May. 20, while Manila rose by 30s. E per ton. It is obvious from this that the - call was for Manila, the New Zealand - produpt jjajng takgn; bepauge/the prices of j both fibres were the same—namely, £23. 1 Those in the hemp" trade mu'sf"not ovcr--1 look the fact-that the winter wheat crop - in America is million hushels, which - is G3 million bushels'bjclqjy Tast winter's ■> crop. This will restrict the consumption ' of binder twine, and manufacturers' will - not bo eager to secure the raw material , with heavy stocks of the jnjai}!jffM<fcured

article.tot hand. Advices were received' from. Melbourne en Wednesday last that Manila hemp had declined 30s. per ton, and one' Wellington firm received cablo advice from London that the fall sras £3 per ton. . It is probable that Jihfl present quotation for the Philippine product is in the neighbourhood of £21 per .ton. It is very disappointing to have the hemp market so depressed,' especially at a time when the supply of unskilled labour so greatly' exceeds the demand/' $6 oqitbt sooner 'pf later there will'Be a recovery, and in the meanwhile millers should give further attention to the fluestion of 'reducing' tho cost of production. Improved labour-saying machinery, Jewot prflcesses in mill economy'shoiild be subjectspf close study.'