TRADE AND FINANCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 151, 29 June 1938, Page 16

TRADE AND FINANCE

PRODUCE & MARKET REPORTS FROM DAY TO DA\

WAITING ON AMERICA EXPECTED REVIVAL COMMODITIES MARKETS "Evening Post," June 29. • All the world is waiting on America to give the commodities markets an upward push, with a stimulating effect jipon the share market,' and to set more wheels .in industry a-turning. The aspect of international politics during the past two years, it is true, has been menacing and even now is far from reassuring; two major and bitter wars, with the attendant risks of other nations becoming involved in them, continue ® Spain and China. But even these d£ quieting influences appear to be thought by the business world as of rather less importance than the re establishment of American industries on a sound and lasting basis. The United States Government policy of pump-priming, at first sight, seems to be a purely domestic affair. But it really so? To quote the Secretary of Commerce of the United States in a recent public statement to the .Press, it was- the duty of the Administration to arrest the fear of what the Administration might do. He also said that he believed it to be the duty of everybody to do all that they could to develop confidence. One way to foster recovery would be "to pass the ne ?e s sary legislation as quickly as possible and let the people know the legislative pro gramme is through."

FEAR OF FEAR. The Secretary then went on to say: "We are stalemated by the fear of fear, the fear of each other. To overcome this we need the courage of action or f_ ith in the ultifnate solution of all our Pr it b was f not what the Administration was doing, or was threatening to do, observed the New York correspondent of "The Times," that was producing fear, but "criticism of democratic government. Criticism had engendered "unreasoning fears, ana thfse had "undoubtedly contributed to the recent decline in industrial activity, wfth resulting increase in unemployment to such an extent as to give us C °Since these remarks were made Wall Street, with its ears to the ground has rficnlaved a moderate degree of con | fidence with a corresponding improvement in sentiment on the London Stock Exchange; but. the duration o! that improvement is difficult to foretell. Prices of base metals have risen but ■not. sensationally so, suggesting that the general demand for them will increase. -There was need for an improvement in the metal market, as was indicated ! ■the statistics of the .\ nt^™ a .\ 10 £.f n J/n Council, set out in its latest bulletin, and showing that for th d months ended March 31 .Last, Urn tea states consumption of tin was /d,j>uo tons, compared with 81,139 tons for e corresponding period of 1937 a de crease of 6.9 per cent.; whereas «reai BriWs consumption had increased to 23,995 tons, or 14.1 pei- cent. more than for the year ended March dl,

POOR DEMAND FOR WOOL. Tin however, is only one of severa indicators. Wool, for instance, is of great importance directly to . Empire wool-producing countries, and through them to the United Kingdom which is not only their principal market but also their principal supplier of goods that must be lmported by them. Of the American market for wooi, Winchcombe, Carson, and Co., Sydney, reported this week, Consumption of apparel wools in the United States aur ing the early months of 1938 was less thin half the quantity used in. the similar period of 1937. As a result, imports ■ of wool have been most meagre, being about one-twelfth of the total recorded in the first quarter of the preceding year. It is hoped, however, that the Government spending programme will cause a brightening in business in the • United States," and later "most mar- ■ kets have shown a better tone, caused .chiefly by the more hopeful feelings that the United States. will display some improvement in industrial activity during the months ahead. COMMENTS BY A BANK. Recovery, if it comes at all, may do so by fits and starts, but its inducement by "pump-priming" does not appear to have been wise or wholesome, according to some financial authorities. The Cleveland Trust Company of Cleveland, Ohio, an institution with a high reputation'for* the soundness and moderation of its comments on banking and business in' the United States, observes that there has been no general expansion of business activity since' the' announcement of the pump-priming programme a month ago. "When the announcement was made stock prices

- 3' CHEAPER STEEL 3 4 AMERICAN ACTION 4 i BETHLEHEM MAKES CUTS 4 L (By Telegraph—Press Assn.— Copyright.) It (Received June '29, 10.45 a.m.) NEW YORK, June 28. I The Bethlehem Steel Corporation has announced reductions of its; schedu e prices equal to those of the United States Steel Corporation. The reductions made by the United 1 States Steel Corporation on ajvide range of its products was from 2.50 , dols to 8.50 dols. per ton, or by 6 to x 17 per cent, off lists, according to the f article quoted. The cuts ™erc mac| } it was announced, in order unlock £ prices on industry products mclud t* > throughout the country. >

advanced•' moderately and they' have, since.held.most of their small gains. The quotations for federal securities moved upward," and that advance has been held. The outstanding characteristics of the renewed depression are still the same as they have been since the beginning of the year. They are an abnormally small demand for new automobiles, exceptionally low outputs in the basic iron and steel industry, greatly reduced volumes of freight traffic on the railroads, and steadily increasing unemployment." ATTITUDE OF BIG BUSINESS.

Since thesp remarks were made it has been announced that the United Steel and Bethlehem Corporations, in order to give a new impetus to industrial revival, have notified reductions in the price schedules of their products varying from" 2.50 dollars to 8.50 , dollars per ton. The result of this action will #3 awaited with interest by the business world in general. The Cleveland Trust, however, has noticed that "Business has been consuming capital during the depression, years more rapidly than it has been creating new capital. We have in this country about a quarter of a million corporations engaged in manufacturing, transportation, trade, and as public utilities. There were about fifteen thousand more of such corporations in 1935 than there were in 1930, but the capital invested in them had decreased in those five years by about thirty billion dollars (an American billion is 1000 millions). Not capital, it seems, but confidence , is the first need of American industry today. With its return, business activity may be expected to make a good recovery, a change in which the benefits will not be restricted to the United States. GOLD DREDGING RETURNS. Returns of fold dredging companies as received this week are as follows: — 1 ours. oz. dwt. MoooM?ht '.00 100 10 Mossy Crock 13! l 38 1 White's Electric 100 24 0 New Klver 110 10 0 Worksop 134 S3 0 Gillespie's Beach 118 44 7 Golden Sands ('!'» fililfts) 21 12 Mntakl Junction 131 45 0 Okarito i 103 32 0 Jlatakl 133 -"2 0 C'ltitha Hirer 105 230 0 j Itlmu Dredge 123 100 10 The Queensland Insurance Company, Limited, has declared an interim dividend at the rate of 9 per cent, per annum.