COMMERCIAL SUMMARY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10621, 17 March 1896, Page 2

COMMERCIAL SUMMARY.

Monday Evening, March 16.

For a short month such bb February is, and one broken in upon by holidays, business during last month was good all round, and values were well maintained. The leading foe.to.ee of the past month has been the advanoo in sugar—an advance which is likely to be maintained, and perhaps increased! owing to the fact thai; stocks are very short, end oDly intermittent supplies can reach the market bafore tha new season's croj>3 are available. Tho arrivals during the month include the b.s. Aorangi, (i.s. Kimataka, s.a. Buteshire, and tbe Helen Denny, from London ; the Lutterwortb, from Liverpool; aad the R. A. G. Smith, from New York. ALE AND STOOT. (Duty: 2« per gallon, or 4s per dozen.) We bavo no change to report in ales and stout during the month. As usual, the demand has been confined to « few of tbe best brands of imported beers, second-elss3 brands beiogqnitesnpplantedhythelocalbrew. AianiaI dex to market values we auote the followinE s—

Bass's ale, bottled by Foster, 12s 6d to 13s per dozen; Bull Dog, 12s 6d to 13s 6d; AUsopp'g, 10s Gd to lls 6d per dozen; Burke's, 12s to 12s 6d; Boar's Head, lls to lls 3d ; Daukcs's lls 6d to lls 9d; M'Ewan's, 10s 9d to lls; Guinness's stout, bottled by "Burke, 12s to 12s 6d; Foster's 12e 6dtol3s; Bull Dog, 12s 6d to 13s ■ AUuopp's, 10s 6dto lls 6d ; Boar's Head, lls to lls 3d; Daukes's, lls 6d to lls 9d; Pig, lls to 12s; Johnson's, lls to lls 6d per dozen—all duty paid. '

BAQQISa. (Duty: Woolpacks and cornsaeks free.) There tsas bsen a good dgal of business done lin bagtgiag during the moath. The stock of ' Urge sizas of cornsacks (46'» and 48'») has bsen j cleared out to northern purchasers, these siz?s I being what are mostly used in the northern | district. Tho me used in the south is 44's, and ['the demand for the3o is now iu fall swing. ' Purchases of parcels have beeo made at a little ! under 4« 6d, but ordinary lots have beea freely ! placed at the latter figure. In woolpicks, being the off.season, there is nothing doyig yet, but ! importers have bean ordering their supplies for shipment in Calcutta in July.

CANDLKS. (Duty: 2dperlb.)

A moderate inquiry for candles has ruled during the month, to usual the bulk of the business has been done iu the locally manufactured article, which sails at frjtn s|d to 7d per lb, according to quality, with a sliding scale of discount* accoriiag to quantity purchased. The current quotation for bast brands of imported canalej is V^a per lb, duty paid.

CEMENT. (Duty: 2s per barrel.)

There is not very much bueiueis passing in cement, tha pries, however, has slightly hardened, and sales ara now being; ms.de at 12s 9d to 13s per barrel, duty paid, ex sstcre.

BIUKD FRUITS. (Duty : 2d per lb.)

i Dried fruits bave been in steady demand 1 during t'ae month, and stocks iu importer*' j hands are only moderate. Prices have not ; altered, but importers have been firm at their quotatiooß. Currants are selling Ireely at 4d per In in ordinary trade lots. A faw sales have I bsen made franithe wharf at £d per lb lass. Sultanas and elemes have maiutlined 4Jd per lb during the mouth. Fig< are in improving dsmaad, and ate selling at 6|d per lb in layers, 61 par lb in bag', aud 6i to 6s 6a per dozen iu lib boxes, acawdiug to size. For muscatels thsre has been a umall demand, r.nd sales have baen made at In 3J per lb for Malagas, the only description available. i fish. (Duty: Dried, pickled, or salted, 10s per cwt; j' potted or preserved, 2d per lb; paste, 20 ! per cent, ad valorem.) 1 As to ba expected during the Lenten season, there ha? been a good demand for Ssh during i the last fortnight. In tfcis demitid all descrip- \ tious have participated. Alaska salmon has been selling at 7s 9d psr doznu, and Vancouver »t 8* per duzea for tall tins aud 9s psr dozen for flati, in ordinary trade lots. Cjcktu'l brand maintains the premier position ia the market, and secure!) 9i 6>l jierdozsn, Sardines go into consumption at 6s 9d per dozoa for halvea and at Z-i 9d p;r dozen for quarters. Ling has bsen iu gooJ demand, aud has been placed freely ai 4£d to 5d per U>, according to brand. Boneless cud has bsen selling at 4d per lb. All fish duty paid.

HOPS. (Duty : 6ii psr lb.)

A few b.ilee of the earlier picking of th.9 new season's Nelson houa h&ve come to hand, but ! tha market ha3 not yet opened, and in the | absence of eale3 we are not in a position to i quota values. The crop, however, is reported I a very light odc. aud not much more than half jan average yield. Growers will probably fix prices witain she nest few days. A few Calilorninn hops have been placed during the month nt Is Id per 15); and email lots of Kent;, for hopping down purposes, at 2s per lb, duty paid. , metals. (Duty : Galvanised iron, £2 per ton ; fencing i wire, barbed wire, and pig iron, free.) A fair amount of business has been transacted in molsl and hardware lines duriue the month, aud values are fully maintained. Heavy Hne3 have bean steadily placed at schedule quotations—viz , galvanised iron, from £18 10a per ton in pare iU to £20 per ton in trade lot<, usuil | extras; fonciug wire, frooi £8 5t per ton in parcels to £1.0 per ton in trade lots, U3ual extras, the latter with a hardeniug tendency. Birbed wire soils at- from £14 per ton in parcels up to £16 per ton in trada lots. Sheet lead we quote £17 to £17 10s per tou; block tin. 9d to 9£d per lb. Business in I.C. coke tin plates is rather quiet, tha noinin»l. quotation being 14s 6d psr box. In response to advances in the Home market and to increased demands since harvest operations commenced, there has besn a considerable increase in the quotations for wire netting, I

OILS. (Daty : 6d per gallon.)

The arrival of tho R. A. C. Smith augmented stocks of kerosene by some 5500 cases, principally Crystal brand. Sales of this were made Jrom the wharf in parcels at Is 4-|d per gallon, bat ex store the firm quotation for trade lots of high-test oils ia Is 4-W per gallon, duty paid. Turpentine ex th« same ship hus been placed at 28 5d to 2s 6 i per gallon; ex store, small lots command a shade higher. Castor oil is very firm at 2<s 8d to 2s 9d per gallon. Raw and boiled oils are without alteration, stiles passing at 3s 2d and 3s 3d psr gallon respectively. All oils duty paid. SPIKITS. (Duty: Bulk, 16s per gallon, proof; bottled, 160 psr gallon.) Business in spirits during the past month has not been ao nctive as during tha previous one. but still a steady demand is maintained for the hriuds which hive established themselves as favourites in the market, and ai a rule orders are pretty evenly distributed over these. As an index to current values we quote tbe following as agents' list prices :—Brandies: Henuessy's, 36s 6d per case ; Denis Mounie's, 10s per gallon in bulk and 31s fid per case; Bisquit, Duboncbe, 6s 9d to 7s per gallon and 21s 6d to 22s 6d per case; Associated Vineyards Company's, 6s to 7s per gallon and 21s to 22s per case ; Champagne Vineyard, 7s per gallon and 203 to 21s per case ; Dessandier's, 6s to 6s 9d per gallon aud 20s to 22s per case ; Lucien Foucauld's, 7s Gd per gallon and 20s per case. Whiskies: Old Highland (Thorn and Cameron), 7s to 7s 6d per gallon ; Lochicl, do, 6s 9d to 7s per gallon; Dunvillo's Old Shamrock, 5s 6d; Ardbeg, 5s 6d ; Longjohn's, 5s 6d ; Thom and Cameron's iinest Scotch, 3s 4d to 3s 6d ;»er gallon ; Usher's Glenlivet, 7s per gallon, special reserve 9s to 9s 6d per gallon. Of case whiskies, Greenlees's Old Highland commands 18s: Dunville's, 16s to 17s ; Burke's, 16s ; Loch Dliu, 16s; W. W. whisky, 21s per case; Usher's Glenlivet, 19s, special reserve 22s 6d per case; JDKZ geneva, 12s 6d per case ; Burnett's Old Tom, 12s 6d to 14s ; Wolfe's schnapps, 22s to 235; Lemon Hart's rum, 3s 6d per gallon.

SOGAK. (Duty: jklperlb.)

A<s already mentioned, the advance in sugar has been the feature of the month's trade. The importation of Queensland sugar has ceased for the season, and its price fceopa Mauritius sugars out of the market. The colony is, therefore, dependent upon the output of the Colonial Sugar Company at Auckland, and intermitteut importations of China sugar from Australia. Stocks being light and the demand sctivc, the Colonial Siitfar Company advanced their prices altogether 30? per taD, and holders of Queenslauds followed suit. During last week Queensland sugars, finest whites, have commanded without difficulty £24 per ton duty paid, and even at this price holders would only quit limited quantities, tlisir stocks beiog very small and there being no opportunity of increasing them by further importations. Some small shiposento of Cbiaa sugars are on the way from t-ha other side, and these are quofcad £19 to £19 lQa per ton in bond lor finest whitss. Praetiolly the market may be said to be in the hands of the Colonial Sugar Company, as when present stocks of other descriptions are exhausted traders cannot look elsewhere for supplies. Tha present quotation of the Colonial Sugar C»)mp".ny for No. 1 ia £18 per ton f.o.b. Auckland. Jaut now it may be said of the aagar market that business is only regulated by the quantity available.

TEA. (Duty : 4d per lb.) There H nothing new to report regarding the tea market. The principal demand is for blends, and of these the run is npon packet teas, for the disposal of which there is keen competition amongst tho various blenders.

NEW ZEALAND DRUG COMPANY The directors of Kempthorne, Prosser, and Co.'s New Zealand Drug Company report that the stock lias been taken at actual cost, doubly checked throughout, and the accounts subjected to close inspection. The net profit for the year amounts to £11,001 6a Id, to which is to be added ths balance, f r.ini List year (£16,73S 10s 9J), making a total of £27,739 IBs lOd, less dividend on January 31, 1595, of £3285 3', and interim dividend nn July 31,15P.5, of JE32SS 3s, leaving £21,169 10s lOd to be dealt with. TDia it is proposed to apply as follows :—Dividend to .T.inHary 31, 1896, at 1\ per cent, per annum, £32853s ; sddition to customers' reserve, £2000; addition to staff fund, £500; writing down factory plant fixtures, £500; writing down Burneide fixtures, £501); writins down Wellington lenses, £50ii; and carry forward to next year, £13,884 7s lOd.

PROPE R.TY SALES. Mr Neville Shipwright, auctioneer, High street, rt-Dorts a considerable revival iu the demand for city, suburban, and farm laDds, attributable no doubt in some degree to the redncod rates of interest allowed on bank deposits, which creates a necessity for investments producing a | higher return. He reports the following sales :— Allotment 10, township of Calderyille, fronting I'orbnry road, together with dwelling thereon, at J32SO, to Mr J. B. 'Sutherland, of Hyde; section 64, West JDumtlin (Mnrnington), in Aitken street, •with dwelling, at £fif), to Mr M'lntyre; part of section 59, block XXXVI, Bunedin, fronting St. David street, with dwi-UitiE thereon, toapnrohaser; section 65, block XXXVII, Dimedin City, fronting Forth street, containing i-acre, at .£l5O, to lira Buchan ; a seven-years' building lease of part sections 32.1 and 33, block IX, Dunedin, fronting Canonzate street, to Mcasra J. Sceieht

and Co.; allotment 63 and part allotment 64, block I, Raveußbourne, fronting Main road, together with buildings thereon, at £375 to Mr G. H. Ohristeu3en ; sectiou 40, block XXX. Dunedin City, corner of Union and Cumberland sheets, together with the buildings theroon, known us tho City'Steam Laundry, also lease of southern half of section 38 and wttole of 39, block XXX, Dunedi>, to Mr< Jane Wallace, at a satisfactory figure ; vacant section in Albany street, at a good price, to a purchaser; the balance of sections in JTorbury Kxtonsion, near CargUl road, at reasonable prices; also Sandymount farm, Otago PeninBula, containing 503a 3r 14p, being sections 57, 53. 59, and 44. 45, 48, 47, 48, and 1 of 49, block 111 (presently leased to Mr Mitchell), together with building thereon, to Mr John Nyhon farmer, Broad Biy; also several other smaller sections. Messrs Park, Revnolds, and Co. on the 9th offered by auction a number of properties iu the city and suburbs, the following being disposed of:—Section 8, block I, Belleknowes—Mr Tu'nbull, £102 10a; section 13, block 1, Hillside, ill 53—Mrs lustwood. Three pronerttes in Manor place and one in the Kaikorai Valley were passed in.

DONEDIN MONTHLY REPORT. Messrs William E. Reynolds kso Co . Dunedin, report for the month ending 16th March 1896, as follows :—

bince last reporting there has not been a great deal of business done in grain or produce and matters are a little qui<!t. Harvesting is now we. nifty pay, finished as far as wheat and oat:/ we concerned, but on the whole the weather has unt been such as to assist tbis in any way having been boisterous at timss. thus causing considerable delay. Yke are inclined to think that the avurage yield will be somewhat uuder that which was looked for by many. A largo amount of damage has been done by the wiud, which will, wu tnink, exceed five bushels per acre throughout Otago and Southland, while Canterbury reports to hand show a similar state °f ,a, ffa\7v ther<ij Notwithstanding this, ton yioldwillbe good, and the quality bettor thau for some seasons past. There is, we thiulc an exaggerated idea among grain merchants as to amount of crop likely to be available this season,'which is somewhat retarding pricea and hindering speculation.

Wheat.—This market keeps firm considering the amount of new crop at present offering. Buyers are keen and a tittle quiet speculation is being indulged in. Millers are buying pretty freely, but do not seem inclined to stock heavily. At the same time they do not feel disposed to let lines pass them. There is a feeling of uncertainty as to the future amongst all deahrs, same being inclined to buy, others to hold off Heavy inquiries are to baud from New South Wales to Canterbury bouses with every likelihood of business resulting, and we em now waiting for SS'S"™ to ,establish P"ces. It is reported that 30,000 sacks have been sold to one New South W ales firm in one line, aud we have every reason to credit the statement. The London, American, and Continental markets remain steady, and a firming tendency in any of same would soon set matter* going here. Wo think prices have nearly touched bottom, and in a few weeks expect to see them takine a definite form. We quote to-day • Prime long-berried, 3s 9d to 3} lOd; Ted sorts 33 Sci (f.0.b., sacks in, net per bushel of 601b). Oats.—These romaiti much in the same position a* wh.;n last reporting, with only a moderate amount of business doing. New crop is uo.v offsrirg ficely and meeting with fairly *nud inquiry. Speculation is dormant owing to few oraers coming to hand, at the same time buyers are by no means apathetic, but remain alert although buying cautiously. We are inclined to think that prices of this grain will remain' very near to those quoted to-day for a month or two, and will be much surprised if a steady advance does not sat iu with the winter. Owing to heavy consignments recently sent to Australian ports, murUots there are flat, but it will not be long before stock* are exhausted and inquiries made here. Ir. is well within, reason to look for'an opining iu London this year, and we look to'that port for considerable relief. The quality of the grain is goo.l and well suited for shipment t» Britain. A few fairly good orders would be sufficient to iuduce speculation, as the mirkit ia extremelv sensitive. The majority of the farmers will store this season in anticipation of higher prices, consequently offerings will be restricted for the next few months. To-day vs quote, with firm tendency .-—Prime milling, Is lfld; prime feed, Is 9d to Is !Md; good s-.um', Is «id (f.0.b., sacks in, net, bushel of 401b)—for new grain only. . Barlej'. — The market for this has scarcely oponcd yet and offerings are on a moderate scale. A few fairly good lines have been sold at up to 3s 4d (f.0.b., sacks extra, net), but they were by co meaus prime. It will not be possible to quote choice grain until our next, as there will bs practically none in before then. In many good districts the erain is thin aud weedy.

Seeds.—There, is only a moderate amount of business doing in these, and the demand is somawhjit disappointing. Uood machine-dressed ryegrass is selling at up to 3s 7d, and choice lines at up to 3s 9d (f.0.b., sacks extra, net) Cocksfoot is scarcely moving at all being early yet, but we hooa to be able to report fully next month.

Chaff. —Prices of this remain unchanged, and the demand keeps good despite rather heavy consignments. Prime is worth £3 ss; good, £2 15s to £3 (f.0.b., sacks extra, net).

Potatoes.--The same applies to these. Best Derwents, £353 ; good, £2 15i to £2 17s 6d (f.0.b., sacks in, net)..

Cheese.— This continues to have good inquiry, and the reported shortage of the American output will have a steadying effecs. The season is fast advancing, and all lines offered meet With ready sale. We will be surprised if present prices continue much longer, and look for a sharp rise with the approaching winter. To-day's' prices are: Prime factory loaf, 51 to 5Jd; medium size, 4jil to 4}& ; large, 43 to 4id (f.0.b., cases in). Thesa quotations are for " full cream" and best brands only. . ' Batter.— Very\. little business doing 'BitheP locally or for export. Prices remain unchanged— viz , prime factory, 9Jd ; dairy, up to 7d (f.0.b., cases in). ' Trussed Straw.—ln poor demand—3s3 per ton (f.0.b.). Flour.—Best brands (20001b to the ton), 200's, X9 50j; 100"s, £9 15a; 50's, £10. Oatmeal.-Easier-bulk, £9; 7*B, £11; 2ffs (short ton). £9 (f.0.b.). Bran.-Firm at £3 15i (f.0.b.). Rillard.-Firm at £4 (f.0.b.).

The amount of revenue collected at the Dunedit* Custom House on goods cleared for consnjnptiou during the month of February was £33 "24 9s 3d, and the beer duty amounted to £1301. Us'. In tho corresponding month for lust year tho customs revenue was £29,976 ds 4d, and the beer duty £1363 2s.