FINANCE AND TRADE

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4407, 13 July 1901, Page 8 (Supplement)

FINANCE AND TRADE

The condition of the Geum.ii ciops ww. thus rep .I t'll lip n on May J7Ui :- the weather ban liiihi of !1 looi-o favourable chanieier thr I lie growing crop.-., and Hie vheal demand for foreign wheal ban s!»< aoiio.l. nml til'; recent rise in attracted more libera) offers of iioriiigiowii. .It ;s, Ijow'evr'i'. roj^ank‘fl as f*; plain lliav many will reipiiro a considerable quantity of foreign wheat next reason owing 10 Hie serious fr.iliiro of the crop being now bcvoflA doubt, The mid. May official Gerruan crop rcpoi-l is. however, now one. and in awaited with considerable interest. At Antwerp the wheat trade ha. been very slow this week, the large supplies in pros., p-ct cheek in l .; buyers. !n th" month of April Itebiium iinprrred the huge qiuuitity of ntie.OOO qr. foren-t! wheat, com par. cd with ait’.liOil qr. last rear, and export, ed 114 009 qr., against 1)9,000 qr. for the first tour ii.ordlis of the year, tho’-etore. If- net i in porta were 1,422.000 qr.. again-t 1,0:1? one qr. last ’mv; wiiilst since Raplember Ist the net imporls are 2,792,000 or.

Loudon advices state that it i,s rnrnottrcd there that the Government may very sarin ague lo a modification of the Mei-ehundi.-e M.-rkis Act. The only result ot this niea.sUl'', it is claimed by those w'no demand revision, has been to largely advertise fo.-Afpi niai.ttfaelurers, woo candidly admit that many of their last orders have resulted irom the hold, plain r.iiiKiiinwmcnt of the country of origin which thr legislature insisted upon being stamped on goods made abroad. the London Chamber of Commerce has framed a Hill practically repraling_ the ‘■made in Germany” elnuru*. and it i«-, stated Jiat. oven Sir Howard V’ine.'iit has now no particular objai'ion to r;var;d::g a decision which lie.’, [ rove ! ro injarioas to British manufacturers.

Messrs Windeler mnl -"o., of Louden, wool brokers, report of the third senes of colonial wool sales as lollows: .1110 ol about ] f ui loi merinos with an advance of & per cent, on fine-haired parcels was somewhat of a disappointment. tin the other hand the decline of 5 to 71 per cent, on all crossbreds, except the finest, which were about steady, liml been expected. As the sales progressed there wa s considerable hardening of values for merinos, which mostly advanced quite 5 per cent, on the commencement, and was very marked in tho case of fine scoureds. The stronger crossbreds meantime, in spite of n_ brisk demand only maintained tho opening prices. Competition for these was, ns yisaa , largely confined to the Home trade, though a. few exceptionally light parcels of medium grade were taken tor America, while merinos received most support from Germany—the French buying, except in certain cases, being comparatively restricted. Faring tho Inst, week, owing to the dull reports from tho various centres of the industry buyers both of merinos and crossbreds have been more discriminating in their purchases, which caused a slight easing off in prices or almost all merinos except the best and finest, and a further weakening in cVossbreds, esperiat 1 v those of a low and shabby nature. Merino and crossbred lambs, when faulty and wasty, which formed a large prouorlinn of the offerings of this description. ware vei'- difficult of sale, even at a reduction of 71 to 10 per cent., though those of better quality and condition mot with more demand at 5 per cent, decline. Tt is satisfactory to note the active demand that has throughout this series prevailed on the part of so many Continental buyers, and which wo may hope will continue; this is no doubt partly clue to the growing disinclination to purchase d : rect simh excessive Quantities ns woro taken during the Into season which will ensure steadier and more healthy markets.

Messrs .Tacoinh,, Sou and Co., of London, writing of the wool sales under date. 20th May. stale that the third series of sales of colonial wool, for the current year, which commenced hero on tho 30th June, had closed that day. Of the quantity available 228,500 hales have linen catalogued', and 220.000 sold, of which 103,000 for tho Continent and 4000 for tho U.S.A.; while 5!9,0()h bales have not been offered. Throughout, the attendance of buyers has been a large one, and competition very keen from both Home and Foreign sections of the trade, the latter taking more part in tho biddings after the sales had been in progress for about a week. A feature of the scries has been the strong demand for fine haired wools. With tho exception of these, prices at the close do not quite reach tho best of tho series, but altogether the sales terminate with a firm tone.

'XJie UiUon Castle Steamship Company, Su* J-t. Cr. " . iieruerc declared at die annual meeting, intended to Jioid its own m ttie trade tie tween America and South and East Africa, despite the terrible competition with which it was threatened by Mr l J iorpouf Morgan. The company, he said, owned forty-nine ships, valued at Jt3,300,000, and its assets amounted to JI4,'JCO,OOU. Sir Donald Currie congratulated the com. pany on still holding its proud position. During the past year, he mentioned incidentally, they had lost between .£3OOO and ■fc-1000 on a single trip, owing to delays at the South African ports.

The use of liquid uiei in the United States is already affecting tne market price of coal. Tne loimwing, nearing out uns statement, appears in a letter irom San Francisco to Another motor, wmon seems destined to play a part in the lumber tarrying and kindred trades, to the detriment of tne sailing craft, is the rapiu development of the oil producing helds of California, and the consequent cheapening of fuel engendered thereby. W hen -we nnu railroads, gas and electric light plants, and all forms -of industrial manufactories displacing coal with this handier and more economical fuel, it seems well within reason to assume that within a comparatively short time a fleet of moderate sized oilburning steamers will -spring up, adapted to lumber and coal-carrying and suitable for coastal and inter-island trade, which, by reason of the small -engine-room staff required and the cheaper cost of fuel, will be able to compete with the •'sailing ves. sels in those trades which have come to be regarded ns exclusively reserved for these latter. As existing rates, which will probably advance somewhat by consolidation of interests, oil is sold on-the field at 25c per barrel, and costs about 45c to transport to fide water. At this figure the equivalent of a ton of yoal can be supplied at at somethig-under 2dol 50c—a showing which inevitably presupposes a heavy marking down in steam coal values once adequate storage facilities for oil are established locally. Already the influence Is 'apparent, and Newcastle (New South Wales) cargoes .about duo, which “were contracted for at a time when freights thence to this coast were ranging from 19s'to 2fa, stand to net importers a loss of Idol to Idol 50c per ton. The price quoted for the equivalent of a ton of coal in liquid fuel in 10s sd. As the f.o.b. nrice of coal at Newcastle is 10s to lls per ton. nnd the rroiebt nt. sav, 17s. the cost of landing Newcastle coal at San Francisco is about 27s to 28s. There is nlenty of margin for oil to advance and still to secure the groat, er part of the fuel demands. Another -little surprise in the metal trade it seems, is contemplated by Ameri. can operators. The Birminghant correspondent of tho "Financial Times" on the 10th -May, writes:—"lt was reported on the Birmingham Exchange to day that American buyers have been making extensive purchases of pig iron from Cleveland stores for Transatlantic shipment, and that this has caused an advance of Ss a ton in prices. It is further stated that the American speculators are prepared to buy all the crude iron they‘con lay hands upon and that they aim to secure possession of all the stocks in-warrant.” British ship owners, through Sir C. Furness. have pointed out to the President of the Board of Trade that, while Dutch and Danish vesselg entering American ports are exempt from tonnage dues, such dues are charged upon British vessels. Tho

reply sent by the United States is that tonnage dues are imposed on ib-iti-h sir ping because the British levy a correspond in" lintv on American shipping in the guise of .lighthouse dues. An act of Con e.-ess authorises !|m neo-ion of to—dee--' op vessels coming from eonntri-sir ic r'o not in c duties of iqiy’kind oi Avnon. ."••I -liioti.c" and re oor "bunti-ic ■ or" o v eui'-vine this reniission. incluoiiiff the Itrilisli West Tmiies. It ppimvuh Strarv-e that an objection should be taken to the payment of li"h ( house dries. ; s the li'-dbur for 'bo s-onven'e->ro mid p-ote-timi of VPS sel; I radirq wiihin f"e waters affected. • koine lew luo.Utis ago, ’ 'writes the “Uro. cer o*a i.auea luview, ' "tiieie v/us alanou iic ui vjciiiicir.y, « cuiu|iuiiy, unUer uk atyie oi lu-j JUee anu v.’iiii ;t Ci-iJital ur ‘l,gUD } IMU mark.*, recently increased to ;<u,oUo,Doj iiun-hs .or „Ul,.»oh,uUo>. ‘ine leading spirit in tins large concern m, we iie.ir, llcrr .indreas ItieKiners, the-chiel oi the Kiekmeis Hice Mills and fchipping firm, 'ine new company sinipiy means an amal- . gainatiou ot tiic German nco business, go the word ‘ring' is hardly adequate. in J.iemen alone are ;: ve nee mills, with a greater aggregate output than Liverpool, which is oi.iiei wise the -largest r ice mar l;e( in the wor,d. In Hamburg arc tnree mills, and in Flcmburg one. These nine mills represent the German rice industr.. The following table shows the imports to the two former ports of rice during the Inst three years:

The annual value of these imports, which do not include Flcnsburg, amounts to some £2,750,(t00 and the imports are all of raw rice. The German nee industry aiiponrs to have been threatened by two dangers, vis., the competition on tlm pan of the Indian mills with their interior produce (‘cleaned’,) in markets which-were foimerly to a great extent monopolised by Hamburg and Bremen, more especially in the Southern "Hemisphere. The two cities still ship considerable quantities to Central America, South America, and Africa. but there is a-very largo falling off. In the Northern Hemisphere the Indian ‘elcaned rice is not so dangerous a competitor, because it cannot very well stand the -transit. Tho second circumstance which affected the German rice trade was the position which Austria Hungary assumed on account of tho'differeulinl treat, meat of Austrian flour at the German frontier. As a result a number of rice mills wore started at Trieste, Bndn-Pesth, and in Northern Bohemia, -which are quite capable of fully supplying tho home de mand for rice, whereby Austria .Hungary was lost for the German mills. The nine mil’s of the new Gorman eoriipanr will bo continued, but the purchase of the raw material in T.ondnn will be in one hand, or rather the Londoners are expected to make their offers at the Bremen head office. The selling wilL -‘of eourse. nDo be simplified and consolidated, and -o’e rr-mita f o r to 1 ’ sate wi' l aoriointed in th» various Hist-iets. This orra.-.cement will very mnt-G-nr fond to simplify and cheapen the distribution.'*

The kerosene markets have not, so far, shown any material alteration or weakening with die offer of bulk oil. Merchants point out that they cannot do anything until the Shell Company and the -Standard Oil Company have disclosed their policies and tho basis of future operations. Meantime stocks in distributing hands are being worked off on a basis of Ud for American oil. The demand at the pro. sent time is necessarily limited, as traders have recently filled their requirements, and at this late -period of tho month they show no inclination to increase their stocks. Holders of tho present small supplies of snowflake are becoming more impressed with the fact that the quantity of this favourite brand now available la very limited, and when the supply is exhausted consumers will have to fall back upon brands with which they are at present unacquainted. This, combined kvith the on. ticipation of the Federal tariff,'still lends the hope that values of present stocks of oil will bo fairly-well maintained.

Cable advices from Foochow state that the first crop of Congou will bo smaller than that of last year'by about 30 per cent. The crop is said to be of unusually poor quality, and inferior in every respect to that of the past year or two. Cable advices from Hongkong also state “that Macao teas are of inferior quality this season. Bad weather seems to have'generally prevailed in the tea districts, which largely accounts for the poor condition 'of this year’s crop.

.Bremen Hamburg .. 1807. 18G8. 1899. ..tons 20,8 19. ..225,874.. .241,242 .tons 185,513...143,349...138,023 Total ,.tons '147,36-1...374,223...429,885