LATEST COMMERCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 889, 15 March 1889, Page 16

LATEST COMMERCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Mail Qffico, “ ' Th>ifßdajr The commencement oc tfiis pappth promised a decided improvement m trade, feat the past week’s reports state that busies is Lain of a bad nature. There is a general disposition ail r-.uad to buy from taijd to mouth, Stocks pro pot excessively heavy S Ly one line, and orders are of a sprang up nature. There ceoms a total absence of anything like speculation. Caution is the order of the day both with retailers and merchants. The theory is held that trade L„«h an d is improving, but so far no real felt It is perhaps a better benefit is ye- -4. n<J xwh speculation hope for the future thau >*> * , • has taken place in face of the ad van. P in England and Australia lor our products. The disposition to sell as dear as P® BBl^ 1 ® and keep the money on hand, either lor the Improvement of tbs pim4B ( otiye power or for eafe investment is perhaps of a kfopp safp nature than' launohiug out luto speculative “ booms.” The history of rdcent , t lo ®® B shows that a serious reaction always takes biace’ with oftentimes disastrous ejects, lo" therefore, it 'may turn out that the prenent quiet tone of trade in this disteiot, , ffthoiig h pleasant to bear, is of real and , ih. /*» ftw i ney has had an effect on the local market, and 10s more is asked all round The market is still firm, and it is within the range of possibility that a further advance may be seen before long. Dried fruits are dull of sale, and prices are a shade eaiier, with the exception of hgs and dates, both being firmly held. During the Benson of Lent there is usually a good domaud for tinned fish of various kinds, but |k? district shows a pecuharity this yenr. . The extra demand is not fe.lb. In solera . oases the' aptual sale? ) IMS ft an at other ; Reasons of the year. Co.cktaii salpiQU is jpearce"’ in' the local markets and ip firmly held'. Concerning saljmon, .Catting and Co., ; of San Francisco, report on February ,9th ;, Trade in this article is ver y - a hfc » confined to distribution of parcels bought early in last season, and the ordina.y jobbing trade ; and though there arc ru«n"«ltt w the air of transactions in next season s pack, no definite figures are named nor are any particular parties connected with the business. Tne high cost of fish tends to make both seller and buyer cautious on Columbia River stock, as the former cannot pay the absurdly ftgh price for raw fish, and, Kpt at a lots ft bimsolf, sell it at anything less than last year’s pp?es» wqUe the Ryer is unsettled in his mind as ft the effect on the market of the Alaska output, and fe not yet satisfied hbwftlly fish from those waters is going to satisfy the fastidious taste of the finer trade. The preparation fop Establishing new 9au3eri.es p ft® Alaskan waters ia very large, an4> many these will bo, daring the preseu£ season, merely of a prospecting ftd„e?; ploring character, others will make ap effort to erect and run packing-places, and meet with greater or less success according to the fortunes of a good location find. fair manage. m ent on the one hand, or a lack of oifter or both on the other. The business is 0 good deal of a gamble, requiring largo stakes, and, judging from the experience of the past, some will be far from successful, The old canneries will not be likely to increase their packs, as they have each year in the past done all they could and they can do no “The wheat market in Australia is harden--ng and it is probable that the article has not yet reached its top price. Although America had a fair surplus of her last crop of wheat, it is very probable that a much larger area will b@ W 4 <*owo * hw seasoD ’

consequently there will be a bigger home demand for seed wheat, and so leave less for exportation ; and, as the new wheat will not be ready for transhipment before June or July next, and .consequently cannot reach Australia before September or October, there is still a good margin of time for our local wheat to maintain a fair price in the Australian market. A writer in a Northern paper on the flax industry gives a caution to over*speculation in that article, pointing out that some years ago New Zealand flax advanoed to over £SO a ton, and a reaction retting in the price fell rather suddenly to £l6. The writer, however, mentions the fact that, through there being more uses for pbormium tenax now than there was then, and the demand being more extended, there is every probability of good prices being maintained for the future, although, like any other manufactured produce, there is always the ohanoe of “corners” and temporary “ bear, ings ” of the market. The Union Steamship Company have decided to make during the present season an alteration in the mode of charging freight for grain cargo. Hitherto it has been the custom to carry such produce at so much per sack, but intercolonial freights now are to be conveyed at so much per bushel. There is to be no alteration in the meantime in coastal shipments. Advices received yesterday from Ceylon state that the coffee plantations of that country are almost ruined by the coffee plant disease. One estate is quoted as yielding six years ago 20.00 J bushels of beans, and this season the yield is a little under 1000. Several planters have been completely ruined, and many plantations have been abandoned.