TRADE IN AUCKLAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23482, 20 October 1939, Page 5

TRADE IN AUCKLAND

EXCEPTIONAL DEMAND MORE SHORTAGES APPARENT NOVEMBER DELIVERY DATES Wholesale grocery firms in Auckland are working at full capacity to cope with the exceptional demand for goods. The business is now almost up to - the Christmas peak and covers a particularly wide range of goods. Merchants are finding difficulty in replacing with experienced men employees who have enlisted. Orders are now coming in for November account. General goo,ds on the new month's account will be despatched to the country on Tuesday and to the town and suburbs on Wednesday. The-Labour Day holiday next week will add to the congestion. The exceptional demand for goods has resulted in further shortages, which are expected to become acute by Christmas. A large number, of linos have been in short supply for some time, but additions to the list during ; the past week have been tinned pineapple, English table salt, Canadian salt and Australian fruit salad. A difficulty now facing importers of goods from England in cases where shipments were arranged prior to tho outbreak of war is tho uncertainty of the date of arrival. No advices are available as to the despatch of vessels to New Zealand, and it is possible that ships which would now be loading have been diverted to other destinations. DRIED APPLES Advice lias been received from the Dominion manufacturers of packet dried apples that stocks for tho present season have been sold out. CIGARETTE PAPERS Merchants are finding' difficulty in obtaining sufficient .supplies of cigarette papers. Iho position should be relieved when new factories in New Zealand begin production. CLEANING- REQUISITES The seasonal demand for lines required in spring cleaning has now commenced, and storekeepers havo noticed a brisk demand for goods such as brooms, buckets, polishes and paints. STATIONERY Supplies of some qualities of paper used in tho manufacture of writing tablets are now short, with some doubt as to when replacements will be available. Some brands are unprocurable in the meantimo. AUSTRALIAN FRUIT The only Australian canned fruit available for export to New Zealand is peaches, halves and slices, in first grade only. No apricots or pears in any grades are available. No farther supplies of dried apricots are obtainable. Other dried fruits are short, with no prospect of relief until tho new crop.