TRADE ITEMS

Evening Star, Issue 17927, 24 March 1922, Page 8

TRADE ITEMS

Tho March balance is having ita usual effect on the volume of spot business, and this (act, in conjunction with the lull Which' generally fallows ft movement in prices (in the case of our fortunately upwards after having, as is now generally believed, touched bottom), has made the week a particularly dull and featureless one. *

The continuation of execrable weather is putting a very serioufc aspect on the wheat harvest. Encouraged by the prices fixed by the Government, a record acreage was sown, and for a while prospects, of a record harvest were entertained. Now calculations of a three million bushel surplus have been given up, and the latest unofficial estimates as to quantity, seldom exceed one million bushels. The proportion of tins which will be milling wheat is problematical. Everything depends on the weather. , , , . . Not all the Canterbury wheat is harvested, and, strange to say, it is strong K.W. winds which have prevented the r-cttiii'T in of what still remains out. In North'dtago it is doubtful if half the crop is in, and' in that district it is the rain •which has caused! delav, which each successive day bids fair to turn info loss because of discoloration and possibly worse. The 'same applies to the. iaion, {-South Otago, and .Southland, in which lastnamed district an exceptional acreage is in wheat. As to yields, whore harvesting lias been completed some reports state that it is not unusual lor Canterbury growcis to admit that their crop is threshing out ten to lift eon bushels per acre below what they expected. Last year wheat Vmlaedl n „ average of 31.24 bushels to the acre. The estimated average yield for. this year was 29 32 bushels pm acre ; but it is practically certain now that this estimate will not be readied. The Government's position m the matter is not enviable. .In anticipation of a big Miimlus above local requirements, arrangements were made early for shipping a fairly large quantity to Japan. In .ovdei to secure early shipment of this the Wheat Control .Hoard circularised Canterbury growers advicing them to thresh out of the shook. Tibs advice was followed ,in many cares, and the results aie pioving imfo; lunate, in this country wheat requires very careful handling. Chances were taken to expedite shipment,' and the upshot is that (according to rumor) the. Government is having to reject about twothirds of the, offerings for shipment as not being up to milling requirements, it has nut ''lieen disclosed what price is-being received for these .eastern orders, but it is understood to be above London parity, and London parity for our Tuscan wheat would he about. 5s to Ss 2d per bushel, f.0.b., s.i. If the grower is guaranteed' 5s 6(1 per bushel on trucks, sacks extra., it can easily ho seen that the Government stands to malm a fair loss on every ton of wheat shipped unless considerably above London parity is received. Some douln has been expressed concerning the price to be charged for seed wlieaC and Lire publication of the regulation dealing with the matter may be timely. Clause 8 of the Board of Trade regulations. gazetted on February 24 states:—

(1) Tho maximum price of peed wheat being good milling wheat (other than machine dressed wheat), when sold tor delivery free on hoard or rail at tho nearest port or railway station on tho usual trade terms as established at tho date nt this Order in Council, shall be the miners’ price for good milling wheat of tho same description delivered free on board or rail at tho nearest port or railway station in tho same month, with an addition of 5d per bushel. (2) When sold otherwise than free on board or rail at tho nearest part or railway station on the usual trade terms as aforesaid, the maximum price shall be a price equivalent as regards the seller to tho maximum price aforesaid. Machine Dressed Seed Wheat.—Tho maximum price, of machine dressed wheat shall be the maximum price fixed by the last preceding clause, with the further addition of 5d per bushel.

Undressed Tuscan seed will therefore he 5d in excess of the millers’ price of (■s 3di (or 6s Bdj ami machine dressed 10d in -excess (or 7s Id per bushed); Hunters fcs lid and 7s 4cl respectively, ami Pearl 7s 5d and l 7s lOd. A suggestion that the "Mew Zealand Ctovjrnmonfc should consider the adoption el a sales lax was made in a letter received recently hy Mr T. Do Bchryvcr, "of Auckland, from Dr J. 0. Miller, Toronto, who was in the Dominion last year.

The communication was passed on to the tonnc.il of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce for consideration. The writer said the tax had proved to

be both popular and efficient in Canada

Ho mentioned also that Sir Edmund Walker, of the Bank of Commerce, had

hist advocated a special 1 per cent, lax yon sales of commodities, to be applied in b'jniilatinn of Canada's war debt. There

had been some .'opinion in England also

in favor of giving this method a trial. The writer concluded : “Now is the time t i try it, when the people are accustomed f i high prices for all commodities.” ! Laughter.) Mr Do Schryver, in a covering letter, said bo wondered whether tho imposition of such a tax would lie acceptable to the ■‘lew Zealand public. It would bring in r. considerable rum. He understood that ii: Canada the tax was demanded only on certain ■. classified commodities, foodstuffs, medicines, and other lines of actual necessities libt being affected by it. It was decided to approach the Canadian (Invcrnmont for full information on

the subject. Latest cables concerning dairy produce arc reassuring. A London message, dated March 20, status; “Butter, market strong, prices advancing. Cheese, market firm, good demand.” A cablegram received this week by the secretary of the Mouth Island Dairying Association indicated that it would he advisable for the dairy factories to switch off from cheese

making to butter making for the balance of tlie season ■where that course has not already hern followed. During the past week London buyers have been operating here on the basis of as high, as Is 2d per lb, f.o.b. It is understood that the local dairying companies are already putting down enough butter in cold storage to meet local require incuts for the winter. It is therefore lilcelv that there will be osen

less butter (if any', drawn from the North Island by the South later in tho year than was the case in 1981. and tho amount then taken from the North was less than usual j owing to a mild winter and an early spring.

A revival of the export trade in apples is foreshadowed in the request to the Government. for an advance for a packing shed at Kipponvale, where there will probably bo 15,000 cases for export next year, so it was stated. Tho restrictions on shipping space during tho war shut out apples, and has thus caused a long interruption to a branch of export trade which in Otago was just in its infancy.