THE GRAIN MARKETS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1951, 11 April 1889, Page 19

THE GRAIN MARKETS.

Notwithstanding the repeated warnings, it appears that farmers are inclined to hold back for higher prices. An Auckland telegram states that farmers there are greatly puzzled over the vagaries of the wheat market. They state that Adelaide wheat is coming in while locally grown^wheat is being sent to Sydney to glut the market, although enough wheat Is not grown in the province to feed its own inhabitants'; In the Radgttikei district a few days ago at a meeting'Trf farmers Jit ,waß resolved that wheat should not be sold'f or less , than '4s per bushel and oata for 2s, 6d per bushel, -and to make themselves still further secure' a resolution was carried unanimously "Thatthefarroerspresentdeoidenottotake any millers' bills unless the usual bank discount be i added.'" The 'question of price ,is being warmly disciissed in the Canterbury papers. Me Joseph Gould in a letter to the Press states :— " In the course of. negotiations in connection with that sale [Gould 1 and 5 Cameron's wheat sold at 3s 3d], the Sydney r market' was tried In what I considered the most advantageous manner, and ampng the replies that my Sydney corresppndfent obtained' one ' of thpm was forwarded by him to me, and it is with 'a view' of showing bur farmers ' directly^ How 1 they will ruim their own markefcif they stand out for too large & price, that I now write to you. The letter which' i myjeorf espondent forwards me is from one of the ' largest of the Sydney millers', qnd he writps as follows j— l l am afraid we cannot' do anything just l now with New-Zealand; > I have had quotations from three of the Ohristchurch firms (namiDg them), their 'prices being'equal, fco 5s c.i.f., bags included, and half Tuscan,, half short-berried wheats. Just now the markets in New Zealand appear to me" to tie uridb-ly, 1 ' excited, land1 and prices will, I think, recede. By my'ietter of yesterday you wilt haye 1 "seen, that I have closed for "about 55,000 bushels June shipment of Californian No. 1 standard white milling wheat at the, price of 4s '9£d:c.i.f., and as the vessel is to berth at the railway wharf the price is equal to 4d per bushel better than we 1 could do with ,s ew Zfcalajid, whilst for milling purposes we consider the wheat quite 2d per buahel better- than Tuscan.'"? Mr Gould considers that " thfs would make the value, of our wheat, delivered in Sydney in the middle of August,, equal to 4s 6d'per bushel, sacks given, in, or 4s , 4§d ,if the sacks \yere paid for/as is customary here. 1 Out of this 4s;4|d the merchant has to pay for the wheat on this side,' the freight, exchange and insurance, and all other charges necessary for delivering it to the Sydney mtllerß. Farmers can, therefore, judge for themselves how much grata merchants in Christchiirch can afford to give for wheat." The Lyttelton Times combats the statements' regarding GaUfornian wheat, and says " it would seem thafc.'de'splte the prophecies of the New Zealand <*orn merchants, 'those who are on the spot in Australia' neither qrder' large supplies from California, no* expect them to be ordered." It considers the advice given on a' former occasion to sell part and hold part to be still go6d. ' Taking the latest available figures, it appears that, supposing the whole ot our surplus goes from this colony Jto '.Australia, there will still be a deficit; of 3,300,000 bushels, or about 80,000 tons of wheat, which must be imported into Australia from elsewhere. Turning to our Australian exchanges we find, the Argus'of the 27th 'lilt, reporting ;— " The wheatmarket is rather unsettled. Two sales at 5s 6d have been repprted to us, one of 5000 bags in store, 'and another of 1000 bags ex station. But the relapse indicated has led u to' speculative inquiry, and other sales have 'been made at 5s 7d, at which local operators jare disposed to deal largely. We qhote the market! at ",clo6e as strong at 5s 7dj for large lines with a considerable speculative element; and the most important holders disinolined to part.".- On the following jday' the same paper reports :— " The wheat market is in much the same condition as yesterday. There; is a Strong speculative Inquiry, and should the price re cede to ss 6d' there are heavy buying orders. Several thousand bags have been sold at 6s 7d, but business has -also-been done privately at 5s 6|d for Bpot wheat. The market is. on the whole, unsettled, arid the reappearance' of millers as buyers on a fair scale would probably tend to harden prices. " We quote 5s ti£d to 5s 7d, with few sellers." , As 'showing the tendency to keep back supplies, the Argus publishes the following cable message received from Christchurch: — " Oats practically unobtainable; market excited; holders refuse tojjell; market risen fully 3d owing to short supply." Qther advices point to the fact that New Zealand farmers' are holding back. On the other hand, thecropb aio unusually large. . The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company have received the following cablegram dated London, 2ud inst. :— " The wheat market naß a downward tendency."