COMMERCIAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 September 1924, Page 2

COMMERCIAL

■METALS MARKET.

(Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.)

LONDON, September 9.

Copper at £63/3/9 and £64/3/9; lead, £33/5/- and £32/5/-; spelter, £33/2/6 and £32/15-; tin £253/12/6 and £254/7/6; silver (standard) 34£d, (line) 371 d. POTATO- MARKET. Lately the vagaries of the potato market have puzzled the layman and dealer alike. Present quotations from. Canterbury are £4 10/ per ton for reds and £5 10/ for whites. The imports of Australian potatoes have more than .amply supplied the Northern markets, and further imports expected into Auckland at the low price of £2 15/ per ton f.0.b., should cause a fall in present Southern prices. New potatoes are coming into the Auckland market. Once the steady supply, at reasonable prices, is obtainable, the old season’s crop will not be wanted, except in comparatively small quantities for bakers’ needs.

In holding for higher'prices, ifi the face of the low-priced importations from Australia, and the new season’s article coming on to the market, it is just possible holders will find themselves once more landed with stocks for which there is no demand. This happened recently, when very heavy shipments of Australian potatoes flooded )the Northern markets, and Canterbury holders got “panicky” and brought the market down from £5 15/ to £3 17/6 per ton. In the excited market, local buyers are set a hard task in picking the right time to buy, and are likely to be caught either buying on a falling market or by holding for the bottom of the market to be reached. Present' indicatons do not point to any material upward price, because if the prices rise beyond a certain point, buyers may have to consider the expedient of arranging shipments from the North of the Australian article,;