COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 8, 10 January 1912, Page 4

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCI AL.

4 In. ", Evening Post, Wednesday. ! ¦* The returns oi the "five banks in New j Zealand for tho quarter ended 31st December are expected to • show a decided "'itnproveiiien.t in business 6pread all over |he .Dominion when the last quarter of •|910 is taken into consideration. "* Advances and discounts are lrkely, to be substantially greater, while increases will fcrobably be iound in the aggregate deThe position, then, that the Returns are expected to reveal 13 one of great commercial strength. On the other '¦hattd, the persistent rumours of a coming iftrike beginning among workers engaged in the trun6port of goods and passengers ire having an unsettling effect upon the ihinds of business men. In any case, there ia a general impression that a. ij?erk>d df dearer money is aheadg^that, te one authority put it, "we aie not yet , <jut of the wood. It is quite' true that 'there waß a shortage of over £2,000,000 in the vaiie of New, Zealand exports for /the produce; year ended 30th Sepiembei tfluet, but given reasonably fine weather, -there should be a great outturn of both tutter and cheese at prices spread over £ season that constitute a record. It is 'now a question oi 4 quantity, for the price js assured, and it is high. The wool ¦eason is belated by wet weather delaying the shearing, but thfc 1 wool la there TUsfc the same, and the state of the mar'fcet at the moment is exceedingly saxieIjjgctorjr for the grower. There has now |>een time to survey th« Christmas wholejfalo and retail trades, and the reports appear to show that it has teen remarkably good. A run of fair veather [ should greatly; stimulate the reSail drapery trade, which more than any «ther had suffered from rain and low j temperature. Some little anxiety is felt by financial lebservers in the Commonwealth at the iapid growth of imports, notwithstanding the great development in lotftii manufacturing .enterprise. For the month _of November, for example, imports increased (for the month) by.43783,523, while feporta (for the same period) shrank by 16676,765, practically, however, confined <ojwpol. The eleven months of 1911, comi>ared ' with those for 1910, show that imports amounted to £61,010,266, ac against £54,182,726, am increase in value of 366,827,540. The exports, howev**-, amounted to £68,152,295 in value, against an , increase of £3,016,306, ¦preserved meats, butter, tallow,_ flour, and ' tin, copper, _ and gold^ (increase (£5,783,197) accounting for the increases,. • l The outstanding feature of 1911 in Australia (And to some extent in New Zealand) *li*s been the easy" condition of the money anarket, ample funds being available- for •11 legitimate . purposes. Sydney has had, j -and is .not yet quit of, its company boom, jpartietilal'ly in the matter of picture theatre .;eriter prises. Financial institutions gener? %]ly, however, hare been remarkably conservative, notwithstanding the abundance 'i>i loanable money. The spending power of the working classes has been enormously, increased, and they have spent. This it feen in the revenues derived from the jCustOms, railways, and other public "iitilities, and, so lar as can be guessed, in 'ihe revenues of places of entertainment, 4vhich,. : generally ' speaking, - have, done flendid business throughout ' Australia.' or Me th'epV any serious complaints of faid business front ' entertainers in 'New Zealand, whei'e the "show" has met the gopular tftste'. ;^Pa^ng it on" 'has been' the' expedient', j»dopted fy the Sydney bond and free itore owners td recoup themselves for the iocent advances mode in storemen's and 'i'uhilor employees' wage*, amounting to an increase^ of '25 per cent. The •gatea Were raked in proportion, and came into operation with the new year. * WyOlu-^tThe local, wool 'sales opening atj|b.e Tfftrn Hall to-morrow will -show a fall* ing dff in quantity compared with the j^amiary offering of last year. For -this 4b»d Weather alone is responsible. , The position last year^was that 22^500 ' bales ¦Were offered, or *oughly '5000 bales over ,sic quantity to come under the hammer ido-moirow. Prices at the January, ,1911, |$de showed & reduction, many of^the'jch'ns carrying more condition than ttiose ", earlier , 'jftidrn. Prices obtained .at tbe IJediinber' Sale averaged as follow:—* * t • > r ,\

3L5 tho 'Christchurch .sales last Friday 15,102 balei wer& effered. Here the comparatively small' offering wa's attributed solely to the broken weather which had Been general all over the country. There" was & Bh6*tag» at this sale 'of 4676 baled compared- with Janiiary,"-4911, and 7696 lese than for, the corresponding sale of 1910. As at the Cbristohurch sales, so Ijere tOfin#rr©w, representatives of American houses fcfli be> present. Keen comgetititfji '*&(? Gypped tot all high-class woolaA. "Bh^re wil^ bo six buyers for 'house's at 'this sale and those folliwingv ,> SKINS AND ' HIDES.-There was a la¥g&" offering at the fortnightly skin arid bide sales^ and , a good at(*id%nce 6f Bbuyers.- I'rices were obtained for all lines 'folly on a par with the previous sale. Slnns^ wore in some instances, however, 3d foigher, 'and hlcles wore occasionally Jd loWefi ijtAtttf PRODUCE.— The high price* raid for butter outputs before the season began, and the subsequent advances in London {134s^ per owt on Monday) will, fio ttrdmpt makers to consign next lyeiur. li> should be borne in'nrfnd, how^ «v&t,A that tn& .circumstances which led to 'SO "¦ great a shortage of make on the Continent and in tho United Kingdom quite exceptional. It is possible ih&fc £ .the weather next northern season day -be wholly favourable to a heavy tnake. Makers at this end of tho worm, theft, 'will require- td 'bear that contingeiicy in mind. Now Zealand factories •which , did not wholly commit themselves as,' to 'tho disposal' of their outputs art> receiving most tempting offers at tho moment. This week ' sales have been inade;'to London for January delivery of first grade factory made at 13d f.0.b., ,whil» demands from Vancouver at- 12^d 1.0.b.. could not be entertained in view ©{ London's needs. Cheese, again, is still realising a remarkably go6d pride at 73s (per cwt for finest 1 (vide High Commieeiontrf'o cable). The following are tho average prices for both butter and cheese during the month of January:—

*Fot first week in January only. The averages have been "got out" by WaddeL The following Cablegram has been received from Foley Bros., London, .concerning tha butter market by Mr. F. N. R. Meadown, local representative*. "Danish 140s, New Zealand 134«j Viotoriaa 1325, New South Wales 1325, Queensland 1325. Cheese 73s per * bwt. Total' receipts into London from all quar< teri, :^fced*ding .'to Boatd of Trade 1 reOarnsy -&0,61&- ewte, compared with' 87,341 •ewtiS ior corresponding week last 'year," which shows & considerable shortage, and in <friet^.QTth».'tiatufally 1 -deo«>a&ing shipments from New Zealand and Australia woq&v; 1 from, this forward, tho outlook .is

promising for a very firm market, with brisk demand ruling for many weeks ahead, or until the European supplies begin to increase. HEMP. — The hemp market shows a slight improvement on the past fortnight. Prices to millers on Monday were £18 to £18 5s per ton for good fair grade, and £17 10s for high point, and £17 5s for low point fair. The market was strong nt thosß prices, but it was not clear that there was any dieposi-. tion on the part of buyers to offer half a crown beyond them. The market is much in the same condition as it was a fortnight ago. The mills are now well under way after the holidays. The grading returns for_ December are out, and chow a reduction for the twelve months of from 130,449 bales in 1910 to 88,373 bales, a decrease of 42,076 bales'. PRODUCE— Oats are slightly easier at 3s l£d to 3s 2d per bushel for A grade,. Fowl wheat has advanced by l£d to 2d per bushel, and is now 3a 9d to 3s lOd. Bran, which is in fair supply, is changing hami>. at £4 103 per lb; and pollard is most -lifficult to obtain at £5 per tori. Above prices are f.o.b. South Island ports. New Zealand chaff 13 realising £4 to £4 2s 6d per ton, according to sample f.o.b. Blenheim, with old £1 per toil more. Onions have advanced during the week, Melbourne offering at £12 to £13 per ton f.o.b. The New Zealand crop is expected to be -available at the end of this month. New potatoes have 06m pletely ousted the old. Prices vary^ from day to day. 1 - TEA AND "GROCERIES— A private cable from the last Colombo tea sales read : — "Low to medium broken teas, u£ one cent. ; finest advanced three cents. ; lower grade leaf steady : fine advanced one cent: farmings, 6teady." Cream ot tartar has declined 6d pep cwt. during the week. Preserved ginger remains firm. Mildura apricot prices have been, declared and sultana prices are daily expected. Coffee (Indian) remains unchanged, but still dear. Reports from Europe as to the sardine pack are to the effect that there are practically no quarters to be had in France. The sprat catch is reported to bo poor. In Portugal there is said to have been practically no catch. Prices in Norway ore reported, by mail, to be very fim. KAPOC — Offers of netr season's kapoo are most difficult to procure , for April and August shipments. The quality of that which has arrived is reported to be, if anything, above the 'average.

1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 Butter (owt). s. d« 10? 0 121 1 114 10 116 0 108 0 Cheest (CWt(. s. d. 62 9 63 2 60 5 56 10 59 3

5 ' a a, $tferlrib ... <»i ... 8f fiuper half-Urad „, „. ... lO£ to 111 iufl^ty-ed ... 9£ to lO£ Super ctesrtttyd . - g| to 10i Medium crossbred < ... /... Si to 9 inferior and ooars© crossbred ... l\ to 8 Shropffiiie'.^.:'.' r ..'. '.'.. ... *8| ¦P.^^d-jr..~"-;-:«K .! . J-^ury - v.. 7 tt> 7| ¦^^"""tii-T-^- j, , ./»**.. ••• . -«• -6 -to 8i BrtliMf - -..r - ... 6 to 7| CfiftdMngs ... 5i to 6 feck pieces 8-1 to 9Jt £ The catalogues to lie offered to-Aorrow Jjrill-besis follow:— '', Bales t' Dalgetj" {tv '¦ tv •?* >ii 6422' S Levin ... ... 4150 g Murray J-H6t>ertß ' .:. ...• 2550 ' i IjOSM and Mercantile ... 2335 t Abraham and "William* ..v 1359 1. i^Sers' "< ..._ ,650 ¦- "'' . " ' ' 17,466 '