TRADE ITEMS

Evening Star, Issue 18032, 28 July 1922, Page 8

TRADE ITEMS

dairy produce austiohs. rLOUMILLERS’ RIVALRY. ■ COAL INDUSTRY QUIET. Next month a complete clearance will have been made of the small amount of dairy produce in store awaiting s ipmen In the meantime there is no disposition on the part,of the Home trade to make inquiries or arrangemonets for nex season’s output. After a rise in gutter on the London market, winch tome local prices up “in sympathy, there as „ a reaction there, hut so fai no spending dowawardt movement here. The secretary of the South Island Dairy • ing Association has formulated the for the disposal of d-airy produce m South land by monthly auction sales, and he is now circularising factories to see * support is likely to be forthcoming; > , the new system. By August 14 he hopes to be in a position to know what ketones id Applies for auction and! w.u amounts are likely to be handled It is proposed to hold the sales on the third mdnesday of each month at Invercargill ■ They will be conducted' by the association on a commission basis, -'nd tho catalogues will include shipments afloat, produce in store, the following month s output of a factory, and the season a ou - pnt of a factory or part of that output. The quantities, brands, description, and grading points of each lot will be cataloaned Factories will have the right to pice a reserve on their offerings up to within an hour of the start of the sales. Shipment will be under the associations control, the conditions of sale being f.o b , cash against bills of lading, and the principle <5 first into store, first shipped will* ho adhered to. The amount of support accorded to this new system will be watched with keen interest m the North Island as well as in the South, rho meetinn' -which authorised putting the erpenmeat in train indicated that it was a fairly general desire among factories; hut mSuiries coming to hand suggest the existence of a cautious attitude among some—a possible preference _ for waiting until success is assured' before making tne lilunge. On the other hand, inquiries are being made with a view to introducing auction sales in Dunedin also. The catting among flour-millers continues, and the selling price of Hour is now less per ton than the fixed price at which millers can buy enough wheat to make a ton of flour. There are the bran and pollard as by-products-; but even with this offset it is claimed that millers are working at a loss. Owing to this unsatisfactory situation there is at present no disposition to buy milling wheat. Fowl wheat is also difficult to sell, and the same applies to oats and) barley, maltsters appearing to have sufficient of the last-named grain for requirements, while there is no shipping outlet for any of these cereals. Seeds, generally speaking, are well maintaining their price, there has been some export inquiry for ryegrass and Italian, resulting in small business, with indications that more may transpire. White clover also has had) overseas mnniry -which has tended to firm this market, but so-far offers have not been high enough to allow of shipment bemg a payable proposition. Some business has been done in cowgrass for export, though "rowers are inclined to ask more money than will permit of further orders being taken. It is only the very high qualityseeds generally that are sought for export, and the tendency of farmers is to ask the tame prices for poorer, quality, although there would) be no margin of profit for buyers of the latter, because of the greater expense of dressing. Recent shipments of potatoes to the yjorth Island from this port have been unsatisfactory, owing to the development of disease in transit. The consequence is that there is friction between Dunedin consignors and Auckland consignees. Legally speaking, the former are in the better position. The business is on an f.o.b. basis, and! the potatoes are graded and passed ns in good condition before shipment, so the risk of deterioration is the payer's. _ t the Burnside stock sales this week beef prices receded and) hnutton firmed, proving that there was reason for the appeal to the public to assist the grazing industry hy eating beef rather than mutton. It is (believed, however, that it is only a question of waiting so far as the grower of beef is concerned. After the clearances at Home inquiry is showing signs of revival, and it is not. likely to be satisfied until buyers make offers that will net the grower more than the Id per lb which present prices yield him—an impossible basis for continuance in the mdlThe' news that American orders for coal are being placed in Australia because of the labor upheaval in the United btates has caused a' certain amount of interest in the coal mining industry in New Zealand. It can, however, not be called exactly a feeling of expectancy-. There might be a prospect of American orders coming this way if sailing vessels were bringing timber here from the Pacific coast, as tiese would be available to take coal cargoes as back loading. Timber merchants are, however, not importing on any scale, being already overstocked, and any consignments coming from the Pacific coast come in small lots by steamer. The New Zealand coal trade could do with some such fillip. It may be said that only two well-known companies are really busy, the rest only jogging along. The position is comparable to what existed in the wool trade when “Bawra’s” accumulated stocks depressed the market. Here the Government’s huge overseas purchases of coal are having a similar effect on the mines. The Railway Department is not a buyer of New Zealand coal, and the big mines which ordinarily supply the railways axe skimming the cream off the market for domestic and steam supplies, leaving the smaller mines the residue. In the past few months the jute rhar- . ket made an advance of about 50percent., estimates from India regarding the new sowings predicting a very short crop. Messrs Home, Miller, and Co.’s report, dated Calcutta, June 2, states that the 1922 monsoon did not break over the jute districts until the previous day, and it remained to be seen whether a. crop sown very late would benefit from heavy rains or suffer from washing out. Crop reports varied considerably, and the preliminaryforecast to be published this .month was being eagerly awaited. Apparently it has been less unfavorable than might have been the case, for news was received in ” Dunedin this week that the market had eased back somwhat, and peak prices have apparently passed. The four-day week in the jute mills will continue through August, but there has been talk of increasing production as soon as enough supplier of raw material are in sight to justify it. . . , A movement* is on foot among tno=e in the wool trade in New Zealand to make representations through oilr Government ■ to the Legislature of the United States in the matter of the Customs tariff on raw wool. The cables indicate that this is going to operate in a prohibitive manner on New Zealand coarse wools. The unfortunate point about the matter is that in the States this tariff is a political rather than an economic issue. The rabbitskin sales in London on Tuesday showed the market to be better than hail been anticipated in New Zealand. Furriers’ sorts were down about 10 per cent., and hatters' sorts were firm. This nows will give local buyers more confidence between .now and September, when the next London sales take place, fort-hough a big proportion of New Zealand skins go to America, the London market is the guide to Values. The season here has now passed its climax.