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Otago Witness, Issue 2513, 14 May 1902, Page 17

CANTERBURY MARKETS.

Christchurch grain and produce report (Lyt- j telton Times, 10th inst.):— The excitement ■Which has been prevalent in the grain market during the past few weeks seems now to have subsided. Matters generally are quiet. Wheat is offering sparingly, and as holders are asking high prices, local millers, who hold fair stocks, «re not inclined to purchase to any extent at the present time, and business is limited. A few small lines of prime milling have been taken on the basis of 3s 10d *o 3s 10£ d f.o.b. The rumour was current in town yesterday that one of the mills had broken away from the millers' combine, but nothing definite could ha obtained on the matter. It is pretty certain, however, that most of the bakers in Christchurch and suburbs are not keeping to j the conditions laid down a couple of months ago as most of them are now delivering bread at 6a for the. 4lb loaf for cash. So far as oats Kre concerned, there are not many offering, and •SB most of those who have made contracts for South Africa have filled their requirements, there is not much demand. The steamer Wakefieid left Newcastle, New South Wales, yesterday, for tHe Bluff, to load oats ; the Port Victoria is also on the berth to load oat 3at Oamaxu; the Chatham is on the voyage from Newcastle to load oats at Lyttelton; and the Oakleigh is about due from New York, to load •oats from Timaru and Lyttelton. All these boats will take cargoes for South. African ports. The Anglo-Canadian will shortly arrive to take remounts from Auckland and Wellington for South Africa, and, of course, she will require a certain amount of fodder. The damage to the oat crop in Canterbury is not nearly so great as was at first expected, and although i> good many lines of discoloured are coming forward, causing very heavy rejections, there axe also a number of really prime parcels. Milling oats are exceedingly scarce. There is virtually nothing doing in barley. The demand for Derwent potatoes from Auckland has fallen off : the market is not as strong as was expected. Although the damage to crops by the floods is nothing like as great as was expected, the bulk of those coining forward are not in a. sufficiently sound condition for keeping, and holders are anxious to sell off forks. The Federal tariff has made a considerable difference in the exports from Lyttelton, which show a decrease of more than 50 per cent, on the same period for last season. The exports from the opening of the season to May 9 last year •were over 13,000 bags, while for the B ame period of the. present year there ihas only been exported 14,000 bags. The exports of onions have also fallen ofi, and as •£he bulk of those coming forward are inferior, prices arc slightly easier. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile •Agency Company (Limited) held its usual monthly auction sale of grain and produce at Christchurch on Friday last, when ji submitted a varied catalogue of about 1060 sacks to a full attendance of produce dealers and grain merchants. Bidding was brisk, and competition was active for fowl wheat, and -sound feed oats, while feed barley and fair milling wheat ■were not so much in demand. The range of .prices was: — Sound whole wheat, 3s 6d to 3s 8d "per bushel; damp whole wheat, 2s 7d to 3s 5d per bushel ; seconds wheat, 2s lid to 3s 3d per bushel; good short oats, 2s 6d to 2s 8d; Suns and Danish oats, 2s 2d to 2s 6d ; feed ibarley, 2s to 2s 4d (sacks extra) ; onions, J£6 5s per ton (sacks in); early potatoes, 60s per ton : j(sacks in). „ Timaru markets, for the week ended Friday last:— The -wheat market is rather quiet, and very little business is passing. Buyers are lidding off in the hope of prices- declining, although Bouthern. millers are operating at prices above those ruling here, having paid as much as 4a vn trucks at Timaru for prime lines. Local pnillers are fairly, well stocked, and are not ■ anxious to buy, only offering 3s 9d on trucks tfor second quality Tuscan, while a little more might be obtainable for prime. Oats continue to firm, and prices have advanced to 2s Sd to 2s 3Jd for good bright feed on trucks j(sacks extra), while 2s 6d is readily given for milling parcels. Feed barley is offering at 2s Sd >to 2s lOd f.o.b. (sacks extra), while prime (malting commands 3s to 3s 3d, but there is very little good quality on offer. Derwent pota!toes now command £3 10s to £3 15s f.o.b. (sacks Sn), but growers are firm in their demands for Jiigher prices, and a few sales have been made at <£4 At country stations for immediate delivery. Ashburton markets, for the week ended Friiday last: — A better feeling prevails in the wheat market, and milleTa are again in the (market for any really prime lines. The dry (weather has placed a fair quantity on the market, but still many farmers are leaving their Backs until spring threshing. The stores have plso received a lew Hne° whose owners have greater faith in the future market value, biit rthe bulk of those who have threshed have cold at best price obtainable, and are taking advantage of the dry roads to cart grain. Values ,pre: — Tusoan, 3s 9d to 3s 9Jd; velvet, 3s 8d to 6s 9d ; and Hunter's, 3s 8d to 3s Bd. The inpkiuz iar oaU caatiauaa gstsi ioi all wwUaiMttd

little go. At the close 4s 4d is on offer, and holders ask a. further advance. This, upward movement has thrown further inquiries into Adelaide from this centre. For inferior wheats prices range from 4-3 to 4s Id, and medium to fair from 4s 2d to 4s 3d. 3?! our: Relatively flour i 3 cheaper than wheat at present prices, but, notwithstanding the strong advance in the latter,_ the amount of business passing in the finished article is smalL Good flour can be bought at £9 2s 6d for cash, and on fair terms at 5£9 53 to £9 7s 6d, while the leading town jnills have advanced their rates for bakers' lots on usual terms to £10, and quote this rate firm. For Manitoba flour £12 10s is quoted, and for Lake of the Woods brand. Some little time ago cables were received to the effect that the whole of the flourmills of the Eastern States of America had combined with a gigantic capital. It now appears that the Pacific Coast mills contemplate a similar movement. If the plans do not miscarry, the coast will soon have a milling consolidation that will control the flour trade of the Rockies. The corporations interested in the proposed combine are the Portland Flouring Mills, the Puget Sound Flouring Mills Company (of Tacoma), the Centennial Mills (of Seattle and Spokane), and the Sperry Flour Mills (of Stockton and San Francisco). This, if carried to completion, will finish what tfae mills of California began some years ago. The principal mills of California have, in effect, been ■working on the combination basis for several years, as they have been held " together 'by the strongest association in the country. The necessity of consolidation of the large exporting mills was doubtless felt owing to the unsatisfactory condition of the Oriental trade the last year. Competition in China and Jap"an, and in buying wheat at home, often played havoc with profits. Under combination the mills could get a fair margin on the flour sold, and at the same time pay the farmer more for his wheat than exporters could pay. Thus, by largely preventing the exportation of wheat, the millers would have a broader market for their flour. -Reports from Christchurch tell of a good inquiry for short feed and seed lines of oats from the North Island. The sale of a fairly large line of short feed oats for Australia, probably for Queensland, is also reported.