THE BREADSTUFFS AND PRODUCE KARKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2528, 27 August 1902, Page 17

THE BREADSTUFFS AND PRODUCE KARKET.

d . - Tuesday. , [ It Is stated that the prices tendered by " j the- . Christchurch firms for the Government !- ! contract for potatoes for South Africa 0 ranged from £4 17s 6d to £5 9a per ton i. i f.0.b., cases in., and it is understood that [. ' the prices tendered from Dunedin were , within the same range. Some of the Chnstchurch tenderers were bitteu rather badly c over the co-ntracts. They tendered without - holding any stock, and as soon as the Go1 verument accepted the tenders the news 1 was telegraphed down to Christchurch and 3 published. Consequently, when the tenderers went into the market to cover the I contracts, prices jumped up and in several 9 ' instances they had to execute the orders at I an actual loss. The local potato market keeps firm, al3 though there ia a deaich of good quality offering. Stoc&s in Canterbury must be » running down, the shipments from Lyttelton from the beginning of the year to date . amount to 215,126 bags, as against 118,427 bags for the same period of last year. i Some idea of the raio at which, oats are going away to the Sydney market may be gathered from ihe fact that the Waikare [ took £00 tons from the Bluff and 712 sacks and 3921 cental bags from Dunedin. i At the meeting of the New Zealand Flour-millers' Association, held in Chnstchurch last week, the main subject for dis- ; oussion was the new agreement, a draft of ' which was submitted. In all essentials it is practically identical with the agreement now in force, the proposed amendments dealing with details in the general working. The meeting wa3 praotioally unanimous in deciding to hanig together, and as the present agreement expires next February the association is likely to continue in its present form. The question of the Southland miller-.' flour output was brought up for discussion, but was ruled out of order. It ia understood, however, that the directors have the matter under consideration. The New Zealand Flour-millers' Association's tariff remains unaltered — viz., flour, £11 10s per ton for sacks, £12 for 100's, £12 5s for 50's, and £12 10s for 25's. Bran is quoted at £5 15s and pollard at £6. In yesterday's report we inadvertently quoted pollard at £6 10s. Wednesday. The Commonwealth demand for all kinds of dairy produce is keeping the market exceedingly firm, the only check being the limited supply. As much as Is 3d has been refused, wholesale, for a large ldne of butter in bulk. The confidence which buyers have in the cheeee market is shown by the fact that already 4id has bsen paid for next ■ season's output — January to Slay delivery. The Australian quotations are the controlling factor in the local breadstuff's market, and as August is gradually passing without any sign of rain in the Commonwealth prices are rising higher and higher. A comparison of to-da.y's Sydney prices with those ruling a week ago gives the following: — Wheat has advanced from 4s 9d to ss, oats from 33 6d to 3s lOd, and bran and pollard from Is- 8d to Is 9£d, and judging by the gloomy reports which continue to pour in the end is not yet. Recent Melbourne advice 6 state that the drought in New South Wales and Queensland is being more acutely felt than ever, while in Victoria the crops are very backward and the grass is short. Artificial feeding at high cost has to be continued on an immense scale, and there ie no prospect of any immediate alleviation of present conditions. With the prospect of the next Australian cereal crop 3 every day becoming less favourable, and an actual immediate demand of very large proportions, the strength of the market is not to be wondered at. Relief cannot be readily found in imporation from the Americas, for cargoes would take three or four months , in transit. For the moment Victoria is , bearing the brunt of the demand, and so ' soon as her supplies give out New Zealand i will feel the pull even more than at present, i The Queenslander reports: — " Matters are now becoming critical with the Queensland i wheat farmers so far as the prospects of ■nest season's crop are concerned. Thero has been no more than sufficient rain on the Downs to bring the crop above ground, I and unless there is a speedy general raiiifall .' of an inch or go replanting' will bo neco; • fcary. The time for bowing winter wheat ! is lcag passed, and fanners who have not sown aro purchasing seed of I've softer varieties. A coiiservati\e estimate of wheat remaining in farmers' hands on the Downe ' is about 5000 bags, and inquiries made in I Northern New South Vt"ales elicited the fact j that there are no stores of wheat in t'te New England district. It )-> now c"<nsid'r >d certain that before next harvest (if we have a har\est) supplies of wheat will be drawn from California, and Arm-rkan merchant? a.re now tubmittiiig quotations m Brisbane at 4fa Cd c.i.f. and c for Manitoba wheat*. The duty, of courpe, bus to be added to this, so tint flour uill command higher prices shortly." In whept, Sydney prices are now on a level with importing costs, and Sasi Francisco shipments aie heiujj talked of. It is stated that Victoria is \ery short of seed lines of oats, and that New Zealand will have to be drawn on to mee-t the demand In consequence, local holders of prime seed hue* aie quoting at a big advance coi anything previously paid. ' '. li\vercargill advices state th.vt on Augu«t 6 stocks of cats in merchants' hands in that [ centre, arid at the Bluff and surrounding ] districts, were le<-s than 160,000 baßs, while , farmers' holdings were al=o li£*ht. From the j Ist of April to the 30th of June shipments from the Bluff were over 490,000 bag* \ South Africa look 406,000, MoLbourue \ 21,000, Sydney and Newcastle 3093, Albany , raid Frcmantle £552, and Brisbane and otlicr , Queensland ports 3500 bags. ( In consequei.ee of the advance in the oat ] market tlio millers ha\o advanced thr price ( of oatmeal by 15s ncr ton — from £13 10s i to £14 5s * ( Messrs A. Momz=on and Co. write. — s " We notice in your commercial column a I ( statement that bran and pollard have not £ been known to rule so high as. at piescnt \ for o\er 20 veaii-. Wo },og to state that j during the last tevero drought iv Ntw , \

Sk uth Wales — in 1888, in November — bran was quoted £6 per ton, sharps £5 10s per ton." Friday. For some time past the butchers of Dunedin have been dissatisfied with the price paid by the local candle manufacturers for their fat. It has been the custom of the manufacturers to endeavour, as far as possible, to make contracts with the variou* butchers for the supply of their fat, and ac fVi^aci r>nnfrapt<j o-vm-rnrl nf. Hiffarpnt nP7~inrlj

they have not hitherto been able to take concerted action. At the present time, however, the bulk of these contracts having expired or being on the point of expiring, a

syndicate of leading bu'chers have seized the opportunity to form a company, with the object of rendering their own fat and: selling or exporting the tallow Owing to the high price ruling for tallow in the Home market, the butchers are satisfied that by shipping it Eome they can realise from -+3 to 5.5 per cwt more than they are obtaining from the local manufacturers. Accordingly the Otago Co-operative Fat atid Tallow Company of New Zealand (Limited) ha« this week been registered, with a capital of £1500 in 1500 -shares of £1 each. The memorandum of association states, inter alia, that the company is being formed for the purpose of establishing and oarrying on at Dunedin or at any other place or places in the colony of New Z~aland the business of draiers in fat, bones, offal, and waste animal products, and manufacturers of tallow, manures, and chemical compounds of any sort derived from such products ; and for that purpose to buy and sell fat, hones, offal, and waste animal products of all kinds, and to sell or export the tallow, manure, and chemical products so derived. Also to purchase or otherwise acquire ar.d undertake all or aay part of the business, property, and liabilities of any company or person oarrying on business included among the objects of tho company. The seven original signatories are all butchers — viz., Messrs D. Bethune, W Ounciingham, W. Duke, T. Elliott, T Smith, J. Wright, and A. Hastic. — and it is stated that about 18 other butchers have also taken shares, these 25 firms ccotrolling the bulk of the butchering business of the eitv and suburbs. The articles of agreement provide that none of the associated butchers shall sell their fat except through the company for a period of three years. It is estimated that the company already has the handling of about 40 tons of fat per week, or more than half the average weekly requirement of the local candle works. The butchers state that they have no desire to act in any way in antagonism to the local company, but that in seif-defence they have taken this step in order to secure a fair price for their fat. In tho event, however, of their failing to find a remunerative market, they will either ship the stuff Home or start manufacturing on, their own account From the public point of view, the first inquiry is as to how this new move will affect the price of candles. It is stated that at the high price of tallow it does not pay manufacturers to sell at 4£d per lb, the present price for Electrics. Some little tune back a conference of eandlemakers was held at Wellington, when an effort was made to raise the price, but the effort failed owing to some of the northern firms standing out. It may be remembered that a little more than two years ago candles made in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch found their way into this market, the northern makers delivering their goods into Dunedin merchants' .stores at the same rates as charged by the local manufacturers. In February, 1900, an arrangement was entered into by the seveial firms of candlemakers throughout the colony by which they agreed to observe a uniform tariff, and by this the Dunedin market is conserved for the local makes. It will thus be seen that the action of the butchers places the local manufacturers in a somewhat awkward situation. If the Candle Company refuse to pay the advanced price asked by the butchers, tkey will have Difficulty in obtaininz a sufficient supply of fat for their needs. If, on the other hand, they pay the higher rate for their fat, and cannot prevail upon the northern firms to raise the price of candles, their position will in no wise be improved. The probabilities, therefore, seem to point to a rise in the price of candles throughout the colony. Saturday. The export of New Zealand-grown garden seeds is fast developing into what promkes to become a valuable asset to the colony Messrs Nimmo and Blair, who ha\e devoted considerable time and attention to working up this trade, have for several years pa->t been filling gradually-increasing orders for England, India, the United States, and California. This week they completed shipments of largu quantities of these seeds for South Africa and Ireland, nnd thoy !ia\p fn hand orders for forward dr-livfry from Holland, France, Germany, England, America, and other countries. Tha prospects of the export seed trade are mo-t encmiragnp:. particularly in the raso of South Africa, which country is likely to take Jarjxe quantities of New Zealand £rown eeed^. iSomo little while back, vvhpu M/ine of tiiP^p p.^eds were offered on the Amcru a.ti market, one film replied t'lai it w.i- something akin to impertinence fr>v New Zealand to off or sepd j to Am.Tira. but, ne\orthelr -%=, orders ha'.o come forwnic'. The value of this trade to the colony liiay bo judged from the fiict t '.at -iimi 1 of th' > grasses expoited command from £60 t<> £100 per ton. Two official notifications of inirrc-t to South African shippers appear in the Board of Trade journal. The first i-"fpr<- to the provisions of section 11 of " The Customs Union and Customs Duties Act, 1898" In thjs sc-tion it is provii'od that flour, ifheaten. and wheaten meal, including pollard, manufactured from otijpi- than South African wheat, and intended for <oiiruinption in the colony of Natal, may be imported free of duty for Three years fiom January 3. 1899 Thp period w.i< ext^rnl^d to theVnd of 1902 by Art No. 11 of 1901, and a further exten-ion to Juiip 30. 1903, has now been mado. A proclamation, dated June 4, 1902, prohibits, in con^pquerce of the existi'nrp of the di.=pa=e of "' redwater." the importation, directly or indirectly, into the colony of Natal of horned or polled Cflttle from the following countries: — The colony of Rhodesia,, the State of Queensland (in the Australian Commonwealth), and the States of Texas and Louisiana (in the United States of America). The proclamation further pro\ides that, '"notwithstanding the foregoing prohibition, healthy cattle already shipped for Natal may be allowed to land in Natal, subject to quarantine at such place and for such time as may in eac-h case be directed by the district veterinary eurgeon. at the port- 1 '

An American, exohange is responsible foi the statement that a new line of steamers will shortly, start running between. Seattle and Australia. It is stated that the steamers will be 10,000-ton boats, operated by the Tyser line Despite the fact that the country suffered somewhat from drought last year, Denmark managed not only to keep up its shipments of butter, but even to surpass those of the previous 12 months. The report of the British consul at Copenhagen, issued re-

cently, snows taat tne ex sorts oi tnis commodity amounted to 1,705,000cwt, or 174,0Q0cwt more than in 1900- The increase is attributed to turo factors. In the

first place the .Danes taKe me greatest caie of their cattle, and in. the next place they are cxtremoly frugal. They find that margarine is cheaper than butter. As a result their butter exports go up, and so does the consumption of margarine. The continued gloomy outlook in the Austrah'an Commonwealth, coupled with the New South Wales Premier's estimate that at lea-t £100.000 worth of fodder will be required weekly for that State alone, is bound to keep this market very strong. During the vroek there have been cousider-abl-e transactions in fowl feed, and Melbourne buyers have operated to the extent of about 10,000 bags, mainly drawn from the northern districts. It is noticeable that the demand has been for the better samples only — that is to say, wheat which, -while a little sprouted, is otherwise sound. This lends colour to the assumption that it will probably be mixed with prime wheat en the other 6ide, and worked- off for milling purposes Chick wheat is from Id to 2d higher, as the result of the week's business, and as high as 3« Id to 3s 2d has been paid fo - the pick of the samples offering. Regarding the position of wheat in Sydney, the Daily Telegraph writes: — Reviewing the markets of grain and produce over a period of 30 or 4-0 years, it is - es.tre.mely difficult to find a parallel with current conditions. Never as long as the oldest trader can remember have supplier been so short or so firmly held, nor have buyers ever been so strongly in- evidence at high prices. The position with regard to 'wheat is very strong. Although bids have been freely made at 4s Bd, holders are reluctant to quit, aa they feel sure that a 5s market is within measurable distance. Already a large number of the trade have turned their attention, towarcta San Francisco, with <• view to obtaining supplies in that clircc tion. The prospects -for tho coming harvest in this State are regarded as being th r reverse of favourable, while in many partof the Stale the effects of the drought air causing dire distress. A large number _of the trade are of the opinion that famine prices have come to stay for a considerable time. The wheat crop of the United States k sure to affect the Australian market next year, if not in the immediate present. La-test advices point to a crop of 350,000,000 bushels of winter wheat against 430,000,000 bushels last year, and 275,000,000 bushels of spring wheat against 320,000,000 bushels last year. Should these figures be borne out in fact, the following comparison with the previous year would hold good: — 1901-2— bush. 1902-3— wish. Crop 750,000,000 625,000,000 Visible supply, .Inly 1 .. 40,000,000 25,000,000 Farmers' stocks, July 1 .... 35,000.000 52,000,000 Total .. .. 825.000,000 702,000,000 Estimated home *cqu<r£me;it« .. 525,000.000 485,000,000 Surplus .. .. 300,000,000 217,000,000 From these figures " Beerbohm " deducts the conclusion that the United Statee will only be able to spare 150,000.000 bushels for fturope against 240,000,000 bushels during the p?st year. On the other hand, it seems probable that tho European crop will be considerably larger than last year, and thu3 c maller importations will be necessary. Monday. The local millers have decided to further advance the prico of bran from £5 ]5s to £6 per ton, although so far the advance has not been confirmed by the New Zealand Flour Millers' Association. This additional rise is in consequence of the contit ued demand for Australia, shippers being willing to pay £6 net as against the former local price of £5 15s, less 2£ per cent. There is a good demand for Swede turnips for shipment to Sydney, and as the supply is not large the price is well maintained. Sales have been made at equal to 17= 6d per ton, Dunedin. The potato market is very firm, especially for prime Derwent*, which, are in short supply, and worth £4. Unlee* deliveries come forward more freely there is every prospect of a further ad\ance before the week is out. The egg market is in a peculiar condition just no»v, and interest'!]?* deve'opinents are in progrie^s. This i-. tho ume of year, wiien cgc;-: bfg'ii to iomf forward freely, and for the ne\t siv week-, or two month* they are ordinarily j-;tt down for pre'-rrvation by confectioner* and others by the thousand. For tlie past two or thire ypar«- the price for the pre=er\mg c^a-nn ha* been fixed at 8d per do7Pu. vl. <h is the maiket price now. Some wrvk fr >-.o apro the produce a^i r.ts recened \P!i>:il intimation from the Master R-kc--" I'mon that it was oaiy intended to pay 7d per dozen for the eggs thin teibon The produc" agents replied that th'-<v would hold a meeting to con-ider the question, if the maatcr baker 3 would put their propo-al in writing The meeting was held this afternoon, v.'ien the foPoTvmg letter from tlie Secretory of the Ma=t< l r Baker« Union was recc;\ed-—" 1 am ln-tr UL-tfKl to inform you that at a mating of the trade it wa= unanimously re=olved tliat 7d be tlie price p<iid for egg" for pie«ervmg purpo-es during the present =fapon " It was decided by the agents that the prire br> maintained at 8d per dozen. It is ur.der-tood that an adjourned meetmg will thortly be held, when <=teps will be taken to combat this effort to bruig down the price It is stated that tho bakers have by circular invited tlie grocers to join them in this combine. This will probably explain why many of the retailers sofd out their eggs at c-o&t price on Saturday night, evidently anticipating that the price to day would be 7d. The agents, in championing the cause of the poultry fanner, ttate that 8d has for the past three or four years be«n recognised as a fair price for both parties, and that an egg at 8d a dozen is one of the cheapest articles of food procurable. Moreover, that the poultry raiber has at the present time to pay 3? 6d per bushel for hia fowl feed, aa asainfet It 9d last year, or exactly double,

.' »nd if anything he is entitled to a higher father than a lower price for bis eggs this Season. That eggs bought for preservation purposes at 8d per dozen cost only id per j«iczen to put down, and in six to eight jirronths' time are worth from Is to Is Id jjper dozen, which in it?elf is fciifficieut projijt. That if tho master bakers succeeded, in the price down to 7d the consumer ,tvould not benefit : and, further, that thero is no guarantee that the price would not be further forced down to 6jd or even 6d. The produce agents are united in determining to fight the master bakers ou this (point, even if they have to find another fcnarket for the egg*. The situation i.« full Df interest, aud developments will be eagerly mailed.