STOCK AND VALUES.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 351, 23 August 1907, Page 4

STOCK AND VALUES.

Evening Post Office, Wednesday. Operations in the import markets during the week under review have witnessed but few large transactions — a condition of things principally due to the amended tariff, and in most departments quotations are quite unaltered. The soft goods houses report that the new season is opening very auspiciously, and in those lines unaffected by Customs changes the demand is highly satisfactory. The wholesale houses are anxiously awaiting the result of the Minister's promise to bring before the^House their application to postpone the recision of the 10 per cent, duty on cotton piece goods until Ist January. In the meantime large quantities of these goods are being bonded, as naturally the country diaper, storekeeper, and the city retailer are restricting their purchases to a minimum. The hardship to the wholesale houses arises from the fact that if their present stocks of cotton piece goods are not disposed of within, say, the next three mouth 3it becomes practically unsaleable, *<nd it is evident that the desired postponement from Ist November ontil Ist January is a reasonable request. During the past wa.k one of our hading soft goods houses has been formed into a limited liability company, with a capital of £700,000, but being of a purely private character, the shares will not be available to the public. HARDWARE AND METALS. In the hardware and metal market trade is good, and there are no movements of . striking importance to chronicle. In galvanised wire the American m inufacturers am not disposed to view the threatened incursion into their domain with equanimity, and since the new tariff has been announced have made two cuts in their quotations, but are unable at present to promise prompt shipment. It is stated that even with the addition of. the extra 10 per cent, duty American fencing wire is still 8s below quotations for good quality English. However ,the difficulty is to get users to pay that little extra for quality. A good deal of perturbation' has been caused to those who handle the industrial metals and their products by the extraordinary will-o'-the-wisp behaviour of the New York and London markets, the constant fluctuations in price proving a disquieting factor to importers here. The opinion of capable judges is that prices of copper, tin, lead, and pigiron, are at rock bottom, for it is highly probable that the big selling movement in New York which has so disorganised prices will also help to stiffen the market by making tremendous purchases to cover forward sales and so assure themselves of their undoubtedly huge profits. That this is fairly near the mark is borne out by Monday's cables, which reveal that Ihe downward movement has been -t all events temporarily stopped, and both < copper and tin have made a fractional rise, in the case of copper £1 5s a ton for both spot and three months, whilst tin has hardened £3 and £2 15s for spot and forward delivery respectively It will not be a surprise if the heavy covering by the bears will tend to somewhat further stiffen ii ices. On the other hand, lead is still weakening, and is now down to about £19 a ton, and the quotations for antimony (£8 10s a ton) will most effectually shut down most of the antimony mines on the West Coast which the recent high price of tha metal encomaged the development of. The undersigned table of comparative prices is of interest : —

PRODUCE. The produce market is quiet, and aHhough Dunediu advises an increase of 5s a ton in flour, this movement has s.» far not been reflected here. Quotations for all lines are absolutely unaltered siuce our last review. Gradually New Zealand is falling bfcck .is a factor in the world's wheat market, and cur small surplus of whe;».t is commented upon in Messrs Kaye nnd Carter's repoits from Christchurch recently, \shich states: — "The Government returns showed an apparent surplus available for export of 608,264 bushels of tvheat, a quanlifcy .so insignificant that the .narket promptly took a firmer tone and a fen- important parcels changed lands. The prices, however, became higher than the equivalent in flour, causing the smaller millers to cease buying end the big millers to be content to v« rk on their son-ewhat considtrab.e stocks. Now that prices could be b'irivimately raised ot. flour .he combine is afraid to do so, lest more talk wight be raised in Parliament, and ci actnients made against trusts. Though the Colonial Treasurer and Premier has declared against alterations to the duties on wheat and flour, yet some members advocate the abolition of the duty on flour, though they are unlikely to gain their end. ■In spite of the above facts a rise of 10s per ton can be fully justified." WHEAT CROPS. Some interesting figures relating to the world's wheat crops for 1906 throw into marked contrast our comparatively insignificant wheat production of about six million bushels, and amply illustrates what a negligible factor in the breadstuffs market New Zealand is: — United States ... 735,261,000 bu5he1s Russia ... 450,000,000 bushels France ... 324,725,000 bushels India ... 319,586,000 bushels Austria-Hungary 268.574,000 bushels Italy ... 168,000,000 bushels Spain ... 154,090,000 bushels Germany ... 144,754,000 bushels Argentina ... 134,931,000 bushels Canada ... 131,614,000 bushels Roumania ... 113,867,000 bushels Tbe crops of other countries bring the total up to the enormous figure of 3,423,704,000 bushels, so that the production of the United States and Russia is practically on&third of the world's output. WIRE, ETC. In the American department, as indicated above, galvanised wire is a little easier, but m wooden ware the market for nearly all descriptions is firmer, such lines as washboards, clothes pegs, and axe handles being likely to see a higher price. The Vancouver mail, due early this week, may bring advices of other impending market changes. Stocks of kerosene will be replenished by the arrival tomorrow of the Kaituua with 20,000 cases, and the Hampton, which follows, has also a shipment of similar magnitude. ARTICLES OF CONSUMPTION. Stocks of Indian and Ceylon teas are not large, and some shipments for New Zealand were included in the consignments aboard the Currie boat Fortunatus, which late cable messages report as having been abandoned at sea. No doubt local distributors will fall back upon Sydney and Melbourne temporarily for supplies to fill the gap. Wholesale grocery houses complain of a restricted turnover attributable to the tariff proposals, and it is contended that in some instances the Government's desire for an increased revenue under certain headings will actually fall short of its object through the diminished demand which may be anticipated. Quotations are practically unaltered, although it is said that, lines of sardines have been quitted at fractionally under cost. A large quantity of cornflour, upon which the duty of id a pound comes off from Ist November, is being bonded. There has been an average distributing trade in Eastern goods, and the market for best Japan rice is very firm. WOOL MARKET. There is little change to report with reference to wool. English and Continental markets are cabled as being steady, and growers will not complain if prices maintain values up to the standard of the two previous seasons.

In this connection a leading authority comments as follows :— "Enquiries have been made on Russian account for wools of the very best class. This is a good sign of the times', for it gives prospects of Russia settling down to a peaceful, economic, and political development." The factors making for strength according to his views are that "there is no accumulation of stocks, mills are running full time, and the strong consumption promises to absorb this season's prospective increased production of wool at the present remunerative rates." This forecast is particularly true as regards fine crossbreds, but the outlook for medium and inferior is perhaps not so bright; still no very sudden fall is anticipated — they may gradually decline from late high rates. The Havre correspondent of the Yorkshire Observer discounts the exaggerated estimates, of the volume of the new clip, which have been circulated at Home and on the > Continent, and remarhs, "Australasia may yield something more, but the Argentine clip is expected to be smaller rather than larger, and meantime consumption is everywhere going on actively. That there will be ample supplies cannot be doubted, but the world's production as far as can be estimated^ shows no increase, in fact, if anything, smaller supplies are suggested."

1905. 1906 1907. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Copper, spot 68 11 3 82 5 6 77 10 0 Copper, 3 months 68 17 6 81 15 6 74 1.5 v Tin, spot 151 0 0 174 5 0 169 0 0 Tin, 3 months 149 5 0 174 10 0 168 10 0 Lead 14 1 3 16 11 3 10 1 6 Spelter 24 1 3 26 11 3 22 2 6 Pig Iron 2 6 3 2 11 3 216 4 Silver, per oz. 232 5 2 7