COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15562, 20 March 1914, Page 5

COMMERCIAL.

MARKET REVIEW. RETAIL TRADE FAIRLY ACTIVE. There is no increase to report in the volume of trade this week. Buyers are cutting down their orders till next month, partly for stock-taking purposes, but chiefly because money is still tight. There is some curiosity as to the showing of the bank returns at the end of the March quarter, as on this occasion the money market is being influenced by so many factors. The remarkable change in the' London market has hardly had time to be reflected here to any extent, but the March quarter is always the biggest in exports, and this will reduce the advances to a considerable extent.

: Retail trade keeps fairly active in most departments. Drapers are busy with introducing autumn goods, and the winter trade is already well in hand. Building keeps Tather quiet.

Potatoes: Stocks are still heavy, and ~ price is unchanged at £3 10s ex store. : A decided change has come over the market in the South, as it has lately been ascertained that the blight and general damage to the crop has been far worse than was anticipated. Merchants will not quote for the present, as they expect a substantial advance shortly. Contracts have already been made to ship to this port from April onwards, but in view of the new position it will probably pay better to hold back the supplies until local are exhausted. Onions : Supplies are far too heavy, even after shipping so much to Vancouver a week ago. Large quantities have arrived from the South, where the market is weaker again, and locally the price is £7 10s ex store. The quality this year is so good that there is no danger in storing. Oats: There is a slightly firmer tone in the South, as merchants during the last few days have been buying to cover their contracts. Local stocks are ample for the present, but a very fair quantity is moving off at 2s 8d ex wharf and 2s lOd ex store. Seed Oats: The' rain has already caused a slight increase in the demand for seed, but it is still rather ear_iy, and larger quantities will, be put in next mou^h. Wheat: Milling wheat remains firm, but millers are holding off as much as possible. Fowl Wheat : Price has firmed a penny in the South since last report. Demand ex store continues good. Bran : A fair demand continues at £4 10s ex store. Pollard : Selling well, and there is also a good demand for ricemeal, which is being imported in small quantities. ! _ Barley: A good business is being put through. Very fine quality is arriving from Gisborne, the last shipment by the Kaeo turning out very well. Maize: Market is weak, on account of heavy supplies. There has been great difficulty in placing the various consignments to hand, and a good quantity lias gone into store, as the distributing trade is very dull. Chaff : Market is already heavily supplied, and plenty of local is now offering. Quality is good, but the large quantities on' offer keep the market weak. Linseed : A little business 1 is being done for shipment fTom the South. Peas : New season's white ivory and partridge peas are now offering. The quality is good, and market has opened higher than last year. Grass Seed : A very heavy demand continues. The weather has been the very best, perfect for burning, with the rain just at the right time for surface sown .as well as for ploughing. Cocksfoot is very firm, and has advanced another halfpenny per pound since last report. Ryegrass is in good demand. Rangitikei growers are getting better prices for their dogstail this season, fully a penny higher than last year Fertilisers : All descriptions are selling rapidly. Imports from Australia are distributed the moment they arrive. Salt: There is steady booking of American salt, to arrive in spread delivery. Millet : Price is high in America this season, fully £10 per ton above last year's rates. Cornsacks : A few wholesale parcels are changing hands. Stocks are exceptionally low, as merchants cut down their shipments on account of the record high prices ruling. It 'will be another two months til! the next direct steamer arrives from Calcutta, so merchants are keeping an eye on their stocks. Candles : Advices from Calcutta indicate a firm market in Rangoon candles. Canned Fish : All varieties in good demand. In Sydney the short supplies of fresh meat caused an abnormal demand for canned fish, adding considerably to the i extra sales that always take place during Lent, and supplies have even been drawn from Auckland. Imported lobsters are very dear this year. Wool : The London wool sales have closed with values in most descriptions well maintained on the basis of the higher prices that were established as soon as the sales opened a fortnight ago. On account of the industrial troubles here last November, most of our wool arrived too late for the January series, so that there was an exceptionally heavy offering of New Zealand wool at this series amounting in all to 60,000 bales. This was all cleared except 1250 bales. The American purchases, 17,000 bales, compare favourably with the results of the January series, when only 5000 bales were bought for the States, while at the Noveeries out of 129,000 bales sold, only 5000 were taken for America, 67 000 bales going to the Continent, and 59 000 being retained for the Home trade. A London firm of woolbrokers thus rev,J*e,situation in their annual report- — the future is not easily gauged. As regards supplies, Australia and New Zealand ?cn/i^ ely t0 show an '"crease of about 150,000 to 200,000 bales, the Cape clip should be almost stationary, and from the Kiver Plate we may perhaps expect a decrease ,of some 30,000 bales, equal to 80,000 colonial bales. It is probable, therefore, that the trade will have to deal with an increase of about 100,000 bales—no very serious matter—while stocks, both of raw wool and tops, are abnormallv low everywhere, though there is a considerable accumulation of both yarns and piece goods. Supplies, therefore, should certainly not prove excessive for present requirements, more especially in view of the fact that American demand, in some form, is bound to make itself felt in the coming year." Since this view of the position was written, a very substantial advance has taken place. _ As was generally expected, the operations of the American buyers were on a larger scale, but the chief factor in establishing such a remarkable advance in the series just closed has no doubt been the heavy. buying on the part of English manufacturers, who had been holding off to such an extent that stocks had run low. Instead of buying about the same quantity as for the Continent, they bought 78,500 bales, against only 40,000 bales sold for the Continent.

A very interesting return has been compiled by the American Consul in Bradford, showing the trade done during January between Yorkshire and the United States, and the aggregate shipments have exceeded all expectations. Wool figures very prominently in the list, a clear proof that American spinners and manufacturers are hopine to consume bigger weights of both British and colonial during the coming year.. There, are also largely increased

exports of partly and fully manufactured articles, which can be taken as an indication of sensibly increased trade. The .principal lines compare in value as under for January, compared with the exports to th«. States during the same month of last year:

Jan., 1914. Jan.. 1913. £ £ British wool ... 68,113 27.618 Colonial wool ... 111,094 58,206 Wool stuffs 122,709 37,134 Worsted coatings ... 44,055 6,951

These figures largely bear out the expectations that until American manufacturers can adapt their machinery and their trade to the altered conditions under the new tariff, the wool market for some time will

reap its principal benefit from the American demand through the medium of' Bradford factories.

Groceries: Rice is now in full supply. Price unchanged. Sago and tapioca are a little firmer. Hudson s extract is in short supply.