SUGAR PRICES RISE

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11705, 18 December 1923, Page 6

SUGAR PRICES RISE

INCREASE YESTERDAY. FURTHER RISE NOT IMPROBABLE Owing to the advance of £3 per ton in Auckland made in the price of sugar by the Colonial Sugar Refining Oom- ] pany, sugar in Wellington was yesteriday advanced to 4}d per lb over the counter, or 23e 6d for the 701 b hag. The old price of sugar by the bag was |axs. j Some Wellington provision dealers | did not receive any sugar by the last ! boat which brought supplies, and have ;to replenish ex stores, as they were j getting short. j £4 IN TWO MONTHS. I The price in Auckland to-day is £32 110 s f.0.b., and it costs from 35s to £2 j per ton to get it delivered in Wellington. This makes the wholesale price of sugar £4 per ton,dearer than it was two months ago. At that time there was a fall of 10s per ton, followed immediately by a rise of 30s, but the retail prices were not then changed. The new impost has compelled an advance in the retail prices. COST OF TRANSPORT. The cost of getting sugar from Auckland to Wellington includes freight 26s per ton, wharfage 4s, cartage 3s 6d (more to the suburbs), insurance 2s, exchange Is. Although it will not have an immediate effect, it is expected that the increase will be felt in the New Year in the price of biscuits, crystal jellies, confectionery, fruits in syrup, etc. MAY RISE AGAIN. A well-known provision dealer expressed the opinion that there was no immediate prospect of any decrease in price, and in consequence of the higher prices being paid for sugar in Fiji by other countries, he would not he surprised to see another increase in the near future. FOOD SEIZURES UNFIT FOR CONSUMPTION. Among recent food seizures by the Department of Health were 5J tone of fish, 24 shoulders of bacon, 160 rabbits, and over 6owt. of tinned sausages in Auckland; 19 cases of apples in Wellington, 2® cases in Otago, 118 bushels of apples in Southland, and 1401 b of bacon at Hawke's Bay.