COMMODITY PEICES

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 128, 1 June 1935, Page 12

COMMODITY PEICES

"THE STATIST'S" INDEX

"The Statist's" index number of wholesale prices at the end of March, was 82.9 per cent. (1867-77 = 100). This shows a decrease of 0.6 per cent, by comparison with the previous month and an increase of 0.9 per cent, on the figures for March, 1934. The two chief groups show different tendencies, the foodstuffs group having fallen by 1.7 per cent from the previous month, and the materials group having risen by 0.2 per cent. The fall in the foodstuffs group is mainly due to the animal food index, which is 2.8 per cent, lower. All the items in this section were lower except bacon, which was unchanged, and mutton, which showed an increase. The largest decline occurred in Dutch butter. The vegetable food section was down by 0.8 per cent., largely owing to falls in the prices of barley and rice. In the sugar, coffee, and tea section, increases in sugar and the import price of tea were partly offset by a fall in coffee. The small increase of 0.2 per cent, in the materials group is largely attributable to the minerals section, which rose by 1.6 per cent. Higher prices for copper, lead, tin, and best Yorkshire house coal accounted for the rise in this section. Among textiles, cotton, hemp, and silk were lower and flax, jute, and wool higher. In the sundry materials group increases in tallow and the import price of timber were offset by declines in palm oil, olive oil, and linseed oil.' ' . .1