COMMERCIAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7654, 30 August 1886, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

Dally Tirasn Offloe, Saturday evening.

The amonnt of customs revenue recoived to-dn.;*. mi itooila clwired for consumption .was £3711 los iid. The beer duty amounted to £10 ls 9d.

The revenue collected at the Dunediu Customhouse during tlie past week on goods cleared lor consumption amounted to £i553.17s lid. Tlie beer duty amounted to £19u Ss Id.

Business has been rather dull during the past week. The continued bad weather has a depressing effect on trado generally, and orders from tho country are few on accouut of the wretched state of the roads. With a change for the better in the weather and the approach of spring we may look for a. revival of trade and an improved demand for goods shortly. Stocks of sugar have been replenished by the arrival of the Otago from Mauritius, with some 250 tons, which .was offered by auction on Friday, and about threefourths of tho cargo was cleared off under the hammer, and immediately after the sale privately, at from £20 5s to £2110s for greys 'and nne whites; sonw.miiaU lots of Queensland sugars aro beginning to come farward, but" so long as the Victorian market keeps up to present rates there will be no inducement for shippers to send sugars here unless prices improve considerably with us, as it is more profitable to send. them to dMelbourne. There is very little doing in teas, and there will not be much business until the arrival of the Whampoa, due about 10th prox., with the second direct shipment of the new season's. Cheap and medium boxes are scarce meantime. In jute goods there Jis some inquiry for woolpacks to arrive, but cornsacks are neglected. Candles are without any alteration in price, and stocks of imported are not excessive. Cemeut is steady at late rates, aud sales of Alsen's, ex wharf, are reported at up to 14s Oil. It appears from Sydney advices just received that there is still alarge quantity of bad Gorman cementin that market which has beeu rejected on account of its inferior quality. It is represented to be utterly worthless, and buyers in the neighbouring colonies are warned accordingly to beware of it, as it is understood that efforts have been made to sell the stuff in Melbo-irne and elsewhere. Fruits continue steady, and a moderate demand exists for currants at s|d; Blemes, 6Jd; Sultanas, 6}d. Fish is slow of sale, the only line for which there is any inquiry being salmon (best brands are worth Ss 3d to 8s 6d); sardiues, 8s 6d aud os for ilb and jib tins respectively. Salt herrings, ling, and most other descriptions of fish are.dull. Hops are very firm, and sales are reported at up to 9d for choice samples. Advices received here by the San Francisco mail this week fully confirm previous cable messages regarding the failure of the American crop. Prices there have advanced from 10c to 30c per lb. American hops sent to London were being re-shipped back to New York. This, it was stated, would probably have the effect of further hardening the English market and raise values all round. Altogether, considerable excitement prevailed. Metals are very dull, and no change in values can be reported. Fencing wire, Nos. 6, 7, aud 8, £10 10s to £11; barb wire, £26 10s; galvanised iron, £19 to £19 10s. Kerosene is being forced on the market, and agents oE the different brands are disposed to reduce prices to clear off stocks. Patna rice is in better demand, and prices are, jf anything, a shade firmer. Wines, spirits, and beers are without change in value, and stocks of most descriptions are heavy.

Hr Montagu Pym sold by auction, at bis rooms, on Saturday, a spoon gold dredge, now on the Clutha river, for £100, the buyer being Mr Thomas Brown.

The report of the Mutual Life Association of Australasia shows that for the year ending June 30,1886, the proposals received numbered 3938, for sums ammounting to £953,937; and after deduction of those declined or remaining incomplete, tliero were issued 2686 policies, for £641,267, producing new aunual premiums of £23,139 9s lid, and the policies now in force are 12,989, for £3,452,426 5s 7d, producing an annual income of £188,365 16s. The aunual interest on investments was nearly £30,000, and tha total annual revenue £148,000. The funds havo been increased during the year by the very handsome addition of £55,709 13s lOd, and now stands at £431,222 18s lid.

The "following (says the Christchurch Press) is from a cable message dated London, August 26, which has been shown tous: —Thepresentprice for fair average quality New Zealand wheat at Mark lane per quarter of 4961b, ex granary, is 355, with stationary market. The weather is favourable for harvesting. Californian No. 2 s tandardis quoted at 35s 9d, c.i.f.,per quarter of 5001b, for shipment in October, November, and jjecember next.