TRADE OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20767, 9 January 1931, Page 7

TRADE OF THE WEEK.

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL. LITTLE MOVEMENT OF PRICES. PRODUCE MARKETS REVIEW. Business in tho city is gradually returning to normal. Most of tho larger trading housos still have some of their staffs away on holiday, but by Monday of next week they should be operating at full strength. January is generally ■a quiet month for most firms outsido those handling foodstuffs, and retailers do not look for a return to normal trading until the middle of February, when most of the schools will have resumed and families will have returned from tho seaside resorts.

Retailers continue' to record satisfac- 5 tory sales of seasonal lines such as cor- " dials and tinned fruit End fish. Fresh r fruit is also meeting with a steady de- 6 mand, and, as a result, most varieties are holding on comparatively high levels. Merchants report fair orders from store- g keepers to replenish stocks depleted dur- Fing tho holiday buying period, and compara- j tively heavy orders for foodstuff lines are £ expected for the 25th., t Tho week has been a quiet one from the point of view of shipping arrivals. The Ulimaroa from Sydney on Wednesday 1 brought a small cargo of miscellaneous ' merchandise, which included 10 tons of 1 lice. Th« vessel also carried a littlo ' cargo which had been transhipped from ( the P. and 0. steamer Maloja, tea, dates, ; olive oil and desiccated coconut compris- • ing the principal items. The Karetu from Fiji and Newcastle brought, among other ' miscellaneous cargo, a few cases of canned pineapples. The Canadian Cruiser from Halifax yesterday afternoon brought 1 paper and motor-car parts. FLAX. The market for flax continues on levels unattractive to most millers of the pro- 1 vine© and only two ox threo are operating. Very little is coming forward for export. RICE. Fair quantities of Australian-grown table rice are being sold in various parts of the Dominion, and tho Quality is reported to be giving satisfaction. Orders are now being taken at current rates fcr delivery any time over tho next three months. TEA RESTRICTION SCHEME. The scheme for the restriction of tea production in India and Ceylon recently made itself felt in London. Imports of leal in October were more than 11.000,0001b. lower than those in the corresponding month last year. In the same month there was a fall of about 1,000,0001b. in deliveries from warehouses. For tho first ten months of 1930 the fall in imports was about 20,000,0001b., but stocks in London, according to trade reports, are said to be still very heavy, and it will require the operation of the restriction scheme for some time before the London market can handle supplies on a really profitable basis. LINSEED MARKET. According to London trade repiprts to hand by mail the linseed market continued under the influence of prospects of a record output in Argentina, and while the exchange rate remained comparatively steady and old crop seed was being taken regularly, quotations were still trending in a downward direction. Present prices are the lowest .Bince 1914, and oil quotations have come "within the - extremes registered for that year, when the highest reached was £24 ss, and the lowest ±'l7 15s. The question of tho moment appears to bo whether prices have touched the lowest. There is no doubt that seed purchases during the past season have been curtailed by the slow cake trade, for which tho excess supplies of coarse grains and cheap wheat have been chiefly responsible. The outlook, however, is. regarded as better than last year, in ns much ns European grain crops are less bountiful than in 1929, while the production of olive oil has shown a sharp reduction. World stocks of edible oils appear to have worked down to more manageable proportions, but with another heavy catch of whale oil in prospect, a recovery in seed prices might be only of short duration. SEEDS. Australian advices are to the effect that hemp and millet seeds are now on extremely low levels, but that canary seed is likely to be difficult to obtain from Australia during 1931, as there will-not be any importation. Now season's Australian seed should be harvested next month, and it is estimated that production will bo ample for local requirements, but as growers tako advantage of tho import duty of £8 8s a ton it does not seem likely that the price will drop to levels which will allow competition with other markets. POTATOES. A decidedly firmer tone has been registered in tho Auckland potato market over the past day or so. On Wednesday a shortage of supplies in the City Markets saw prices at auction rise to £9 a ton. A slightly easier tone was recorded yesterday. NearAuckland growers, Panmuro, Avondale and Mangere, have just about exhausted their crops, and the Auckland market is having to rely more and more on Pukckohe, where potatoes are now being offered at from £5 15s to £G a ton f.o.r. Through store, Auckland, quotations range from 7s to 8s a cwt. ONIONS. 4 A small shipment of onions arrived on the Australian steamer early in tho week. Through store, Auckland, merchants ask from 14s to 15s a cwt. for Australian onions. Local onions are coming forward o little more freely, but woll-matured onions are stild scarco, and the through store price ranges round 7s a bag, or 15s a cwt. - MAIZE. In spite of the arrival of a consignment of maize, maize meal and crushed maize from South Africa this week, the market for this cereal is unchanged on the Bpot. Through Btore, Auckland, quotations are steady at 5s 9d a bushel. In the Bay of. Plenty growers are asking 5s 9d on the trucks, and the Poverty Bay f.o.b. quotation is at 4s 5d a bushel. OATS. The oat market is quiet, and influenced by the prospect of a good harvest of tho new season's crop within the next two weeks. Through store, Auckland, A Gartons sell around 4s fid to 4s Sd a bushel, and B Gnrtons at 4s 4d. CHAFF. The chaff market on the spot is slow, and reflects, with a sustained weakening tendency, the arrival of the new eeason's in February. Southern is selling through Anckr land stores nt. from £9 15s to £lO a ton. , Tasmanian sells around £9 5s a ton. BARLEY. Australian quotations for barley have | fallen to exceptionally low levels, and the ' present through store price in Auckland is ! attractive to poultrykeepers, who are buying more freely nt from 4s 3d to 4s 6d a bushel for chipped. ? WHEAT. Tho market for wheat is stationary, with little, likelihood of a change until tho new * crop becomes available toward the end of 1 February. Auckland through store quota- - tions range around Ss a bushel. BRAN AND POLLARD. The market for bran and pollard in un- , changed. Bran sells at £5 15s a ton and pollard at £5 10s a ton, through Auckland stores. FERTILISERS-. Farmers are still somewhat hesitant about placing orders lor fertilisers for autumn delivery. It is expected that the demand will set in with a rush at the last moment.

PROSPECTS OF SOUTHERN HARVEST. Tho manager of ono of Auckland's produce houses, who litis just returned from n trip to the South, reports that indications are Hint the harvest there will be made earlier thun was expected. Most crops should be heavy. The country throughout Canterbury is looking very parched as a result of a spell of the nor'-wester. AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE. (Received January 8, 9.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, Jan. 8. The following are to-dav's quotations on the Sydney produce markets:—Wheat : The market is dull: bulked, 2s 4Ad: bagged. 2s 6J,d; flour, £8; pollard, £4 ss; bran. £3 15s; potatoes. £ls to £l6: onions. 13lobes, £l2; oats, white, 35.6 d; Algerian, 4s: maize,-4s.

Prices at Adelaide are:—Wheat, 2s 2d: flour, £7 7s 6d; bran, £3 15s; pollard, £4 ss; oats, Algerian, 2s 6d.