COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1269, 26 October 1911, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHAKES. A rale o[ Lcvland-O'Brien Timber shares a.t. E9f. £d. was tlio only transaction recorded in i-nvestmont c l)arc:-. The buying and ,-cliii:" quotatioiiii were as under:—

RISE IN RIOE. Tho current complaint of Admiral Sathat "the tleet is without rice' is oi importance. At the outset of tho present revolution in China, there was a iha-rp advance in rice, the increase being cnuni to 20 per cent., and, by now. it is prjb-abiy more. There it? an extreme shortage of rice throughout the haft, and the pinch z«s boiiiff revcroly Jolt m thy country whivh it most immediately concercij. The Chinese centre-, which caver inure aim-?, report, grcatiy diminished crop*. The Yanstsc-kiang was unu«!:allv high thi«3 year, and the fields on the north bank were not expected to yi&ld, under the most, favourable circumstances, inoro than a &ix or crop. The average harvest for the whole of the vast Iluuan Province was uilso ofliriiially estimated at about wren-tenths. In some of the prefectures it was less than one-half the normal. Burmah, India, Siam, Saigon, and Java show very short crops; Siam and Saigon have prohibited export?, and the stocks in Burmah wero reported to be on such a famine level that the Government might step in at any moment, and prohibit exports in order to prevent native disorders. In Japan tho crops had suffered from cyclones. There is, of course, every prospect that rico will be much dearer throughout Australasia presently. FAILURES IN ENGLAND IN 1910. The animal report on bankruptcy issued by tho Bri-tifh Board of Trade shows that in England and "Wales in 1910 there were 3880 receiving and administration orders issued, the total amount of liabilities being estimated at £8,211,678, and the assets at X2.5C7.C68. In addition, the number of deeds of arrangement was SotM, liabilities being estimated at .£3,450,922, and arsDts at £1,957,474. There was a tfccrcar.o in the number of failures under bankruptcies and under deeds of arrangement compared with the preceding year of 190 and 127 rcopcolivcly. But there was an increase in the estimated amount of liabilities nr.d loss to creditors in bankruptcies, and thi-s increase was coi??idcrab\v in excess of the dc-creaped linbili-tie.- and lrcs undc.r deed?. Taking both classes tcgether, with n decrease of 317 in the total number of failure?, the estimated loss to creditors was £1,767,015 more than in 19C9. SUEZ CANAL COMPANY'S REPORT. The reptrt of the above company for 1910 is cf ink-rest. It shows that the volume of traffic broke all record?, showing nn increase of 12i per cent, over la?t year. wa* due to the satisfactory development of trade between tho various parts of the world served by the canal and to the progressive development of the Far Kas-t- ;India, China, Japan, and Australasia, and tho Dutch Indies have r»!l considerably increased their maritime commc.rce. From January i next a further reduction of 50 centimes pc-v ton wJ.U bring the rnfj down to fr.». 6.75e?. per ton. The following fable fho*.vs the relative positions oI the leading shipping companies using the c.anal, and it is satisfactory to r.oto that the first three lino 3 in order of importance arc British:— Suez Canal Traffic in 1910.

N.Z. PRODUCE EXPORTS. The following are the values of the principal products exported during the first iwlf of tho currcnt ir.onlh, with a comparison of tho figure: l for the corresponding period of last year:—

' fluef.om- revenue collected at the port of yvostcrdoy amounted to I £253-3 6:-. 2d. il

Buyers. Sellers. £ 9. d. £ s. d. Metropolitan Per 12 7 0 — \Vell. Investment 0 11 9 — Weil. Deposit — }J J Ohrislohureh Gas — ? *5 9 F<tilriing Gas — J 2 6 Gi-borno G&s — 3 16 Well. Ga? (£10) «. - l ? S Well. Gas (mw) — 3 0 0 Canterbury Meat 7 15 0 — I\lcat 1'' la ? 15 0 0 X.Z. Shipping 10 12 6 _ — Well. Wosllen (prcf.) ... — a 0 0 Lsy'.aud-O'Drien 19 0 1 10 0 N'.Z. Con. Dwital — 1 0 X.Z. Paper Mills 10 0 — Sharlami's ordinary — 14 6 Turiiigamulu Toiara 2 4 6 —

No. o! Tonnage. Voyages. P. and 0 1.2H.2C0 250 Ellorman Lines l.GJMO £ r >3 Alfred JInlt. And Go. ... 099,.7.0 213 Line 871,'CO 2M Maritimes £c5 2C0 165 Korddeul'-x'lior Lloyd ... 537.CC0 94 llp,mbn?*r-Ai»cricnn Line S37.1CO 140 Clan Lino 43-tfCO 143 T. and J. Hiirrison ... 4G5.GCQ 67

1 " 1911. 1910. £ £■ I TJuttcr 49,557 67.7U J Che- K>3 12.570 Beef 6,197 ' 7.523 Mutton 58,747 11,ICO > Lor? and piccca 1,083 53 , Lnulb 13,085 265 . Wheat 1.594 30,M9 . On'.:; .- 154 Potatoes 182 £9 ' /Temp 9216 9,TO Tiabl)its 15,262 10.330 Tow 7<8 857 Kauri jrum 9.14A 8.W2 fira'in awl pills* l.fCo 3,388 , Hon 977 «21 IFitior, f 37.3 ' Pkins M.P.35 17.G7R 5 Tr.l'.-.v.- 14.97? K',9'3 T : inl'Gr 17.C73 20.M7 Wool <7.955 27,-68 , Gold 1C3.EI4 62.CM