AUCKLAND'S BIG TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15265, 1 April 1913, Page 8

AUCKLAND'S BIG TRADE.

J" ' IWORIABE IN iKPOBt®. j THE DAIEYING INDUSTRY* I CUSTOMS OFFICIALS BUSY. Tins' monthly review of the trade of the port-of Auckland, afforded by the periodical returns of the Customs office*, shows ft marked ittcteasoi in several jmpovtant articles of expert as compared with tho two preceding year*. This increase is noticeable, both for '-the month and for tho quarter. Particularly is this tho case with butter, which showed an increase for tho month : ' of over 20 per cent above tho output of March, 19125 and vita nearly two and ahalf times as great as in March, 1911. In tlto March quarters of tho three years, tho butte* export has grown till tho 1911 flares are now exceeded by neatly 48 per cent. Cheese shows a flight increase for both month f,nd uuartcr. The figures ice flax find tow, hove greatly increase-!, ile quarter's export being nearly ten-fold that of the same period last year. Kauri gum has increased notably. All tho lines dorived from sheep and cattle show an increase. There was a very heavy export of wool during March, showing overwhelmingly large against tho exports of tho two previous years. The quarter's figures give perhaps a better indication of tho steady growth oIE the woollen business. Frozen meat has been sent away in larger quantities than in tho corresponding periods for two years past and hides and skins shows an increase. The export of gold from Auckland has not recovered its old level, though the month's figures arc larger than thoao of tho corresponding months-of tho previous two years. The quantity shipped during March was Suffer lOdwt, valued at £85,002; I and the ithipmeni of silver was 76,2010z, valued a«. £7888. V Tho Customs revenue figures, which are Uio only easily available index to tho amount of importation going on, show an , increase for: the month, and it will be : remembered that February was marked by very heavy import duties, . The netr Customs; duty collected at -the port during the month waft £70,731 4s. In March, 1&2, the figure was £75,829 7a 4d* So that the past month shows an increase of £3901-163 9d.. The beer duty for the past month was £2748 0s sd, compared with £2285 19s 7d in March, 1912 Totalled for the quarter ended yesterday the Customs officials at tho port collected not revenue amounting to £2*13,465. This .stun shows an increase of £15,917, compared with the collection of £227,548 143 Id in the first quarter of 1912, Tho corresponding period of 1911 produced £187,761 8a 6d, or £39,787 leas than in 1912, -and £55,704 leas than in the quarter just ended. The quarter's beer duty amounted to £8945. The March quarter of 1912 produced £7768 from this source, and that ,ti 1911 £7152 13s 4d. The following table shows the values of the principal items of export daring March, with data for the two preceding years for .comparison. Only a few small items are . omitted from the list. I MARCH, ' . 1911 1912 1913 £ £ £ Butter .- ... 4M2S 85,055 103,338 Cheese ... ... 6,181 8.417 9.326 . PlftX «nd TOW ... 3,603 1,296 12.056 -;-. Kauri Gum ... k 433 28,221 33,905 Timber, ...... 11,262 25,176 £0,234. TalleW ..:... 6,183 1,602 4,689 ; Wool ' : -''^U ; v:,^:i.,,•..63^i^^.;^i.62^3.^.'; : 136,424* Frozen Meat ... 12,295 6,897 10,566 Hides and Skins 6,699 ; 3.522 6,224 Gold- ...... 96,806, 65&9 86,002 Silver ... ... 11,688 ' 9,437 7.885 The following table shows similar data fo" the quarter just completed :— JAKtTABY TO MAECH. 1911 1912 1913 £ £ £ Butter ... ... 305,709 406,317 451,133 Cheese ... ... 14,919 22,035- ■; 22,105 Flax and Tow ... 15,452 8,588 40,979 Kauri Gum ... 109,029 81,650 110,445 Timber ... ... 36,276 47.091 46.770 Tallow ... ... 12,590 10,333 15.337 Wool ... ... 167,480 207,722 , 266.096 Frozen Meat ... 25,893 16,997 32,508 Hides and Skins 14,368 13,998 19,126 Gold ... 229,591 200,724 188,677 Silver 28,525 :'-. 26,522 28,705