MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIX, Issue 9992, 22 March 1893, Page 5

MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL

[Special to Press Association.! LONDON, March 20. The average price of English wheat is 24s 9d. ROME, March 21. An official report advises the suspension of the Banca Itomana. Grave irregularities have been discovered in connection with the management of the institution, and a few members of the Chamber of Deptutiea are indebted to the Bank for advances. The other banks in the city are, according to the report, in a sound condition. SHIPPING. Arrived —Tekoa, from Lyttelton, sailed Jan. 25 ; ship Florence Stella, from Napier, sailed Dec. 2. The Argus London correspondent, writing under date Feh. 3, says The butter market in England is in a very depressed condition. Colonial and Continental fine qualities are selling at about 15a to £1 a hundredweight lower than they were last year at this time. The causes of this sudden fall are principally the large consignments of Danish butter now released from icebound ports, together with the large cargoes known to he in the Rome and the Bailaarat. There is no desire to hold butter for a better market, in fact most of the importers are anxiously endeavouring to clear their cellars before these large cargoes arrive. The Danes, in order to check the large sales of Australian and New Zealand batter, lowered their price yesterday to 106 s so aa to secure the market, and as 900 tons of their butter is due to arrive ia London on Tuesday the prospect for Colonial ia not very hopeful. It is true Danish is not so good this season as last, but the reason of this is not very apparent. It is also a matter of complaint that some of the New Zealand butter this season has come in in an unsound condition, bub the best opinion in London is that this is due to the excessively wet season in the colony. Consignments shipped to Hartlepool and Bristol are now offered in London. Indeed, people are foolish to ship to any port but London, as the metropolis is the great distributing centre for Great Britain. It is pleasant to record that many of the Victorian factories are greatly improving the quality of their butter. The butter from New South Wales is not so good as last year’s, and there are many complaints about this, as there are about the excessive amount of preservitaa used in some butter factories. It is said 1 per cent ia quite sufficient.