CUSTOMS AND TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14567, 2 January 1911, Page 6

CUSTOMS AND TRADE.

LAST. MONTH'S RETURNS.

RECORD BUTTER EXPORT.

TOTAL OF £116,926 FOR MONTH.

THE general Customs duties collected at the port of Auckland during the month of December, 1910, amounted to £52,419, showing a substantial increase over December, 1909, when tho amount received was £54,506. The sum received in surtax last month was £1352, as against £1340 for tho corresponding month of the previous year. The beer duty collected last month totalled £3304, or £40 less than in December, 1909, when the amount was £3344. The gross Customs receipts last week amounted to £16,579, Customs duties representing £15,934.. The amount collected from beer duty was £373. O'n Saturday the receipts amounted to £2033, including £1918 collected from Customs duties.

The quantity of gold •entered for export from Auckland last month shows a doorcase over the quantity exported in December, 1909, the quantity being 20,09407:, of a value of £80,241, as compared with 24,7390z, valued at £95,099, for the last month of tho previous year. There was ail increaso in the export of silver last month, the quantity being 196,7350z, valued at £19,703, as against 156,586 of a value of £15,643, for December. 1909.

The quarterly totals of the principal items of rovnuc for the year 1910 are as follows : —•

March Quarter: General tariff, £162,158; preferential tariff.- £6527 surtax, £3711; beer duty, £7165. Juno Quarter: General tariff, £145,002; preferential tariff, £6304 surtax, £3256; beer duty, £6115. September Quarter: General tariff, £195,032 : preferential tariff, £8555; surtax, £4557; beer duty, £5921. December Quarter: General tariff, £183,502: surtax, £4003: beer duty, £8142. Tho full particulars of the receipts for the year 1910 arc not yet available, but the following are, the' totals under the three chief heads: — General tariff... - ... ... £635,696 Surtax ... 15,528 Beer duty ... ... ... 27,345 , THE PRODUCE RETURNS The return of the exports of produce from Auckland for the fortnight ended December 31, 1910, show that the quantity of butter exported during that period, as entered at tho Customs, was 11,302cwt, of a value of £57,732, or within £1462 of tho record fortnightly return of the first half of December, when tho quantity was 11,442cwt, valued at" £59,194. The total export for the month, as thus recorded, amounts 'to 22,744cwt (or 1137 tons), of a record monthly value of £116,926. This sum shows an increase of £21,198 over the month of November (£94,928), and of 110 less a sum '.than £31,749 over the month of December, 1909, when the export was valued -at £85,177. Tho export of wool last, month also shows a very large increase over that of December, 1909, tho respective values being £85,815 and £45,760. The fortnightly table is as follows: . ..f S' ;.. - Butter, ,ll,3o2cwfc - ... ... £57,732 Cheese, 892cwt ... 2,244 Phormimn,_243 .tons... ■ 4,678 ; Tow, 38 tons ... ... 318 ■ Beef, 16cwt. . ... .... ... 31 v Ivauri gum, -434 tons,,, ... . 17,932 - / Barley, 87 bushels ... " ... '11 / - Oats, 148 bushels, v...." ... 22 . i Wheat, 43 bushels ... ... 11 jv Potatoes, 221cwt ... : ' ... 100 Hides, 805 ... ... ' 850 : ■ : Skins, 9749 ... ... - , 920 ' : Tallow, 33 tons ' .... ... 1,134 : .' Timber, 2,557,815 ft 13,378 ' Wool, 2,203,9861b ... .- 83,363 .Gold, 12,1410z - ... .: ... 47,453 •'; • Silver, 129,6820z ... ..." 13,008 The appended table shows the .value of the loading exports for the month of December in 1910 and 1909 respectively: — " Dec., IGID. Dec., 1909. £ ' £ . Butter ....,116,"926 85,177 Cheese ... ... 4,351: 2,906 ■ Beef (frozen) ... 58 10,193 • Phormium ... S 6,640 7,211 Kauri gum ... 22,673 42,430 Potatoes... ' ... , 105 66 . • . Tallow :... - ... 1,595 ' 3,919 Hides ... ... 1,070 2,788 - Skins ... ... 1,321, 1,063 ' Wool ...' '... 85,815 45,760 Timber ... ... 23,439 15,220 . Gold 80,241 95,099 ' , ■ Silver . ... . ... 19,703 15,643

DUNEDIN CUSTOMS DUTY. •* [BY TELEGRAPH.—PBES9 ASSOCIATION.] " Dunedin, : Saturday. The Customs duty collected at Dunedin for the December quarter was £42,315, anincrease of £11,299 compared with the corresponding period of 1909.