ANGLO-COLONIAL TRADE MATTERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11581, 20 February 1901, Page 6

ANGLO-COLONIAL TRADE MATTERS.

[FROM OfR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

London, January 4. This afternoon I am informed by Messrs. I Weddel and Co. that the demand for New Zealand and Australian butter continues good, and that prices are higher than they have been for years. _ Owing to tho cold stores in the provincial towns being virtually empty of butter, there is a very strong demand from all over the country for New Zealand and Australian butter. The large supplies which are temporarily on the spot are being very satisfactorily absorbed without any reduction in prices. ~ Considering these largo supplies have arrived on a holiday market, it is a sign of the great strength of the market that values are well maintained. "Choicest" Australasian butter is selling at £5 10s to £5 12s per cwt; " finesf at £5 2s to £5 6s. Messrs. Weddel say that as tho vessels now leaving Australia are showing a, great falling-off in shipments, it looks as if the season would close early and the total imports fall considerably below those of last year. New Zealand cheese is said to be meeting a good demand, while more business is also being done in Canadian cheese. Commenting upon the new schome for direct steamship service between New Zealand and South Africa, a London paper remarks:—" This is a. bold bid for South African trade, . but it remains to bo seen whether such a service can bo obtained on any terms that New Zealand could afford to give. The stipulation for calls at all the chief ports will be apt to hamper tenderers very seriously, as has proved to be tho case in former instances."

Last Saturday the s.s. Waimate arrived with 40,934- carcases of New Zealand mutton, bringing the total imports for the year, according to the latest report of the Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company, to 1,859,757 carcases, a shortage compared "with last year of 147,814 carcasses; the Indramayo has brought 21,346 carcases. The Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company write to-day that there is little or no change in the trade ; prices are much as they' were, and, so far, there has been but little increase in the output. Now that more seasonable weather is being experienced a more hopeful feeling prevails, and some buyers are said by the Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company to take such a rosy view of the near future that sales of North Island mutton, ex Waimate, have been effected at 4£d per lb c.i.f. Sales of Canterbury mutton, 541b to 601b, have been made at 4j|d per lb, and some more favoured brands at id to 3-16 d per lb more. The Waimate also brought, 326 carcases of New Zealand lamb, and the Indramayo 23. The Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company give the total imports for tho year from New Zealand as 1,295,042 carcases, an excess over 1899 of 52,756. Very little trade is at present being done, as stocks are pretty well exhausted. Recent shipments, as a rule, have, it is said, been lacking in quality and freshness, and buyers prefer to purchase fresh Australian lambs instead. A few of the best from New Zealand make up to 6d per lb, but. s|d is a more common price. There is, I hear, no change in the market for frozen beef, either in demand or in value. The Waimate brought 4303 quarters, and the Indramayo 3971/ quarters from New Zealand. Total arrivals for the year from your colony are 187,799 quarters, or 97.664 quarters in excess of last year. In its annual review of the world's engineering progress, the Engineer mentions among the incidents of 1900, the fitting of two new vessels for the New Zealand Shipping Company, with the Lindc refrigerating machinery, enabling each vessel to carry 105,000 carcases of frozen sheep. _ It also totes that the Haslam Company is at present engaged in fitting up with its ammonia compression, absorption, and compressed air system, the new steamer Ruapehii, also for the New Zealand Shipping Company. It is added: "This installation will be of very large dimensions, and the ship will carry approximately 110,000 carcases of mutton."