COMMERCIAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10562, 8 January 1896, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

Daily Tinies Office, Tuesday evenine. • The amount of customs revenue received ,to\day". on goods cleared for consumption was £1310 ISs b'd. The " Jouraal,qf k Cdmmerca " publishes the fol-lowiugfigures-phdwing the cbirjj>arisoii of our-ft*-ports for the year ending,3oth September 1695 with the same 'period for tha previous year, lh the North Island there was a.net increase of .£40,000, but asjiae output of pold from Aahkla'hd showed an increase of no les? than £141,608, other products were wdrse by over £100.000. Tli- chief poris. suffered ' terea?e3 as follows :—Hiipier, £64,000; Wcllinjton, £100,000; but these 1.-.»scs were in jiarf cemp^nsttte'd for by Tovertj- Bay, : Wangamii. bud Netv Plymouth showl/iR' ah advance of £U6.o'>o. The South Isl.and fared much worse, Lytteltcw's reduction bsing £37,000; Dunedin, £11,000 ; aid the Bluff, £81,00<J-wool, gold, oats, and frozen .meat all* contributing... The net result for the colony is a shriiika^e.f or the year" of £152,000. .

SALE Of SUGA.R

Messrs Park, HFvuoiDb, \mi Co offer»d fir sale, by auction, at their rooms vesfeid:cj upwards of seven tons oj write crystal QaeensbJit- =ugar, slightly damaged. The sugar, which w.w put up in three lots, rcalis d from £1$ to -L IJ ">s p r ton

OUR COJIMKRCIA'L LET2JSI:.

(From Our Otv.v Correspondent.) ! Lo»i)6» t .November 30. WOOL * I have already inferred to the opening of thd sales on the 26th inst., for which the Vital net available from New Zealand was 1,9,000 fitlrai. and will simply quote the following from Messrs Dalgety and Co's report:—No really rise \*ools have yet been offered. Good merino clips in the grease show little or no change from SeptsniberOctober values, one or two lots of Ad«laidefi making extreme prices ; but 6a the other hand " faulty and inferior kinds, including t.Se bulk of the medium, Til and Bd. Quuennlands show in many cases fully 5 per cent. drop. Scoiircd merinos have sold somewhat irregularly nt fidm. par to 5 pef cent. fall. Cxossbrecls are in small ' supply, and ale chiefly composed of oddments of scoured skin and slipe wool. Any good lnts in the grease have sold at very full rates, but sonic of the Bcoureds are a trille lower. The statistical position I of wool is very sound, stocks being moderate, both q( the raw material and also the goods produced therefrom, and, bo far as Australasia is concerned, there seems but little doubt that the decrease in shipments will be considerable. On tho other hand the River' Plate has this year shown au increase of about fiO.ooo b.iles, equal to more than double that quantity of Australian, and for next year the surplus is put down at considerably more. This increase is, however, largely comeposed of i.hort, rather thin-haired crossbred wool, and it is becoming year by year more difficult toftnd an entirely purebred merino flock. GHAJN. With reference to the giain market, Messrs Weddel tell me there is absolutely no New Zealand wheat at all in the market. Prices of New . Zealand oats have declined 3d owinp to heavy Russian arrivals, and now stand at 24s to 25s for for best; 21s 3d to 22s for ordinary. New Zealand beans havef alien 6d. mx. New Zealand (Ijk is dull and little frfcinese was done »t the sales last Wednesday. Quotations are merely nominal—viz. : Fine Auckland, £16; fair Wellineton, £15; good Lyttelton, £& 103; common, £14 10s. PRESERVED MEATS. Preserved meats have been dull of sale owingto heavy arrivals, and the demand has been limited to a few speculative purchases, induced by the present low level of values. Inferior brands are still pressed for sale,and, although there appears to be a stronger tone in the market-, Messrs "Weddel tell me there is not much prospect of an improvement in value? until the stocks of secondary qualities are considerablyreduced rhe demand for preserved rabbits has been active, and stocks are neirly exhausted. Prices have in consequence hardened. Latest quotations for best qualities (par dozen, 2H> tins): Beef, 63 to 7r; mutton; t's Oil to 83 Oil ; rabbit?, Ss- ' to 9». ' , ' TALUm. -- The National Mortgjge and Agency Company import:—Offered at public auctions, 5173 Ciwka : sold, 2815 casks. There lias been a sow and limited demand :n this market, but although values ha\e teniltvl rafher in buyers' favpur, quotation*! on the w h'>l» show no material alteration. The maikst c^m =s quiet with little business passing, but pini«Wß-ins the present low range of values, :>n> iih{irovetnf>nt In Th". demand should favourably ramienre i>r re*. Stock, all Borts in warehouse, I.oticlof', m :?lat ultimo, 25,H94 casks against 15,"47 casks la<-t ye:ir, and 10,904 cn«ks in 18H, Au-tia'.Un ami Js'Mv Zealand mutton (iood id fiiic>, th ?.& to 21-: )ier c\vt. ; fair to good, 2i; 9d ty Kts :)1: i-onlmon, iila to 22s 6d; Jdw anJ mixed, lSi to 22*; beef (fair to good), 22s 3d to 22a !>d; romrtirto, CDs (0 22-,. hides, SKiss, we. In hides the demand has collapi"d and no business has betn done, sellers holding-for pievious rates and buyeis keeping aloof in nopo of a /all. Such sale 3as titve been made liave been effected at a reduction of aidto Jd ,per lb. lUbbitsktns ■ . are worth Is to Is :id per lb for best, Is for secondclass, and 3d to 7d for inferior and snckeis. Salted Pelts.—ileasrs llocke and Sons report :— New Zealand : W c have to report a verj' dull market »nd decliniu; prices. Arrivals' now are very entail, an-i the duality is poor, due to the season of the yeai business is, difficult to do, and, after allowing for the les? intrinsic value of pelts now coming fonvard, prices are prd;Ably 3i to 4s per dozen lo»er"than the highest point touched this year, although it is difficult to make a reliable comp&riso-i as valuej are to-day more or less nominal, and eelk'iM in many case 3 aie still asking the old ra«e'. There are larjre stocks of ! beat heavy Kew Zealand roans in the hands of merchants .in America, many of which were ! liought at the top of the market, and until these have gone into consumrition we cannot look for a healthy market in thai tjuatter. To-day the views of tanners and merchants are very wide apart. 'At Home we are meeting -with less inquiry for New Zealand roans as" domestic pelts are falling in p.ice, aud the outlook for salted grains and crust skivers is, not sufficiently encouraging fo make tplittsn and tinners anxious to pat more p«lfa into work than is necessary. Thdre is no confidence in valm ■-.

Hlo/^^ MrAT Reports froul the p-incip^l dealers' and agents is still somewhat deprc^infr, but owing to the scarcity of reall> ptmip sheep the bc-.t North Can terbury mutton holds its own, but *ccondary and infenor have fallen sub lantially in price Messrs Weddel remark that the presence of a consider able number of stale mid Rhghllj damaged ' carcases on the market Ins tended to augi avate the depression but in view of light shipments afloat, the position has become somewhat more hopeful during the last few days, though on to-day's market prices dre almost nominal, bvfmg to the bad weather and slack demand The Colonial Consignment Company also state that the stale, faded appearance of much of the meat offered ha 3 also helicd to depreciat* \alue~, fresll bright DunedmS selling more readily afcSJd iterlb and good Canterbrirjs at4Jdpei lb, linn sfcalet sheep at "ifd io 3*tl p»r 11) i rekh, si/cable Canter burys are m demand at JJd per lb, md lobe line? would find buters Heavier sheep (GBlb to 701bI hays made 4d per lb thisveek and nrt v (lulled for The general rhnof North Isl md >>beep art Belling at ,Ssd per lb, fre^h Dunedinc 3}c • per lb. Before quitting the subject, I maj quote the following interesting coiumiini cation, which I received to day from Messrs H S Fittu atld Co They say - "Really prune New|Zealand mutton is short, and prices are firm Ihe quality of most of tbe NeVi' Zealand mutton now ou offer is very second rate, and as there is a considerable improvement In some of the Australian and River Plate sHeep (in -fact, many of the«e ire decidedly bettor than some of the New ZeaUml sheep), it is a most difficult matter to make satisfactory prices Of aiiS but prime quality We are still most strongly o opinion that a resuhr sripplj of prime South downs would always find r ready sale and realml satisfactory prices Many butcher-i would then go in foi selling New Zealand mutton who at tfal present time do not do so simply because they cannot depend upon ilvvaj s getting pnme quality Prospects for next S"ison are good, lio*h fo mutton and lamb Iht; demand isnotlik-ly to improve verj much before Christmas onarcouav of the heavy supplies of horn* killed and Conti nental muttoni but the e-nill no doubt darken considerably before tbe <nd of the year, and wi1 are looking forward to a better demand and lm proved prices with the New \ eir " dairy i>R()Dljcr;. Butter. —The market is, dull at last week s quc tations Messrs Weddel and Co sal tliat thu difhculty of ousting niarganne mi*tures from the grocer's counter is b—'inningto be felt much more serious than wjs anticipated, 3n'J there cla be no doubt that the lack of tdne in the market for colonial is largelj due to the hold the margarine mixtures have übtamed during recent weckii Quotations for JJeu ZtfalUnd • Choicest factory from 10&) to 310-1, best factory, 100s to lObs, secondary, £0- to 'K)j Cheese— MesSls Wcddel ahd Co report -Theie is no Australian1 or New Zealand yet on fln> market, the prices S^l'ed in Ne« Zealand, 42s Ccl, forc.i.f. business Cetera buyers here, and inakeis will consequently luivi to c nsign WhshJiuest Canadian Septerdbers cah bo had for 44*, kit , buyers will not look *tf New Zealand unless foi considerably less money.