NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE IN LONDON. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2849, 21 October 1908, Page 22

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE IN LONDON. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

LONDON, September 1L WOOL. Messrs Charles Balme a.nd Co., the wellknown -wool brokers, to-day report. & very quiet trade in the London wool market. During the past fortnight there has been & certain amount of desultory inquiry for both merinos and medium quality of greasy crossbreds, but the sales resulting have been quite unimportant. In the manufacturing districts, both in England and on the Continent, condition* have noc undergone any material alteration during the last two weeks. Supplies of raw wool and tops in the hands of consumers a-re reported to be by no means excessive, consequently quotations are maintained in spite cf the fact that a good d-sal of machinery is not fully employed, and of the complaints made by 'manufacturers of the difficulty they experience in securing fresh orders. Messrs W. Weddel and Co. report a maintenance of the slight improvement recorded two .weeks ago; the market still keeps firm, No one seems, however, to wi*h, to anticipate events, preferring to adopt the more cautious policy of awaiting developments in the September sales, so transaction*, are perforce of a restricted character. Small as they are, they make fcr good, a3 they iecep the market steady. Supplies of the manufactured material still remain limited, and spinners have very Jittle niargun to come and (go upon. In English wools a 6teady business has been doing, mostly on Am a r. can account, and prices remain firm. This (write Messrs Weddel) is *h& bright side cf the picture, but unfortunately on the latter side there are the depressing effects , cf the latest Board of Trade returns, and a. feared impending strike of the cot+on operatives in the North of -England. It is some little way yefc bill the next series of sales begin, but aA t-be present moment more confidence is manifest, and a firm market is looked for when the sales cipeu. WOOLUED SHEEPSKINS. At yesterday's eaJ© of woolled sheepikins 8859 bales were offered. Victoria headed the list with 2686 bales, JS T ew South "Wales came next with 1578 tales, and New Zealand third with 1487 bales. Messrs Cha.rle3 Balme and Co. mention that there was a. large attendance of both Home and foreign bujcr*. and competition for all descriptions was animated, the bulk of the offerings being sold. Pr.ces all round ruled in favour of seller*. The rate paxl for fu!l-wooii-ed merinos «>bowed hule change fiom those Dre\iaii*.lT current. Cloth ny lots au 1

pelts, however, were about 5 per cent. dearer. Quotations for long-stapled fine crosSbreds vrevo practically ini'eha.nged, but thc»3 for coaise qualities -\v«re fully 5 per cent, higher, while on the half-woolled descriptions of both grades the rise amounted to 7& per osnt. As compared with the prices current at " tha sales held on the 30th July. Messrs Balme quote : Merino, full and three-quarter-'wooll'&d, pa.r to id per lb- dearer; merino, half-woolled, id per H> dearer; merino, short! and shorn, id per lb dearer ; crossbred, fine, i-£\. and thre«-quarter-WOOIUd, par to Id P-e-r H> dearerj crossbred, coarse, full, and three-Quarter-woolled, id "per lb dearer; crossbred, half-woolled, |d per lb dearer; crossbred, ehort and ehorn, par io id per lb dearer; lamfce, par to id per lb dearer. GRAIX. Messrs TT. Weddel and Co. write that there js still a good inquiry for New Zealand oats at rather better prices. The quotations for Canadians, Gartons, and sparrowbiUs are 25s to 26s per 3841b; for Dun 6, 22s to 23s per 3361b; and for Danish, 17s to 18s per 3201b (ex store). Prices for peas are decidedly •Better; New Zealand and Tasmanian Maples are quoted at 39s to 44s per 5041b. Tha Corinthic has arrived j j with 510 sacks of peas, and the Wakanui [ with 34 sacks of baans. j KAT7EI GUM. The last sale of kauri gum took place on the 3rd inst. The offerings were not large — numbering only 79 packages, 74 of which were sold, — but Messrs S. Figgis and Co. inform mo that full prices were realised. Pale scraped gum sold at £15 10s ; pale amber at £12; amber brought £10 17s 6d ; dark scraped found purchasers at £8 2s 6d ; dark brown clean scraped sold at £7 ; threequarter scraped realised 80s; for bwh chips 47s 6d was given, end for fine chips £6 15s. while pate chips ranged in value from 92-s 6d to £5- The next sale i 3 announced for October 1. XEW ZEALAND HOXET. Tho market for New Zealand honey is described by Messrs Figgis and Co. as beinfr steady. Fair to fine white is quoted at 25s to 4C-s, against the 12s to 18s fcr fair to fine pale from Australia. TALLOW. There has been an improved demand for Australian and New Zealand tallow during the last two weeks, and Messrs Weddel announce an advance of Is to Is 6d per cwt. At public auctions over 2000 casks were offered, 1155 finding buyers. Doll and dark sorts of good body were in be?t request, and show the most advance. Edible beef and mutton also sold to advantage, but the medium grades are still' rather slow in moving at 6d per cwt advance. On the 6pot finest edible mutton is quoted at 35s 6d; fair to good, at 33s to 355: dull to dark, 30s to 325; hard, at 345; edible beef, at 33s to 35s 6d ; fair to good, 31s 9d to 32s 6d per cwt. On c.i.f. terms limited sales have been made, and the 6ame may be said of offers received. Good mixed has been sold at 29s 9d to 30s; no colour, 43& titre, at 2?3 3d : 48deg fair colour mutton, at 32s higher prices are now being asked. The London stocks on August 31 were returned at 10,678 casks, this being a reduction of 1354 casks on the .month. The shipments from the colonies for August were cabled as 3600 tons, mating a total to date of 27,100 tons in 1908. NEW ZEALAND MEAT. Tha market for mutton is benefiting slightly from the scarcity of beef and from tho high prices ruling for that cla~s of meat, so that mutton 13 c shade firmer. There h. however, plenty of room for an increased demand, but so long a= finer Plato bheep remain at their present low lc\cl of piicc=. and am of the <=ame oxcolkul fjuaHtr and condition a-> row, that doscilpt.oa will continue to hamper serious'?

any increase in the demand for IS ew Zealand mutton. Messrs Wedidcl remark thai, nevertheless, the rate of sale is sufficiently fast to absorb present moderate stocks, and the high prices of Canterbury sheep are maintained because so man y of , tfae s. e are sold on the reputation of the brand. Canterbury mutton under 561b v <!»£* at "43d 56-641b at 4*d to 4|d, 64-721b at 3ld per lb. Offering* of North Island sheep are fairly numerous, the best of these if of medium and light weight, realisng 3*d to lid uo to 4d per lb. Heavy carcases cannot be quoted at more than o§d pcx lb. Second quality carcases are offered at 3£i to 3|d per lb. Ewes are steady -at 3d to Sd per lb. During the past fortnight 120,000 carcases of mutton have arnvea from New Zealand. . , There is very little change to chronicle in the market for lambs. The demand continues quiet, during the last two weeks 111,000 carcases hare come from New Zealand 19,500 from Australia, and 6200 from the River Plate. Messrs Weddell mention that supplies of Scottish and Dutch mutton and la-nibs are still fairly plentiful, and they interfere considerably with the sale of frozen lambs. Another factor also detrimental to tl*e demand is the beginning of ■the pork • season, which, as usual at the beginning of September, attracts buyers a-way from frozen lambs. In spite of all this, however, values have been firmly maintained. The inquiry still runs on light weight careascSj. although the 36-421b grade is now receiving more attention from buyers. There is practically no delsrand for* the 40-501b grade. The maxket closes steady at the following quotations: — Pxime Canterbury lambs, under 361b, 5 9-16 d per lb; 36-421b, 5 5-16 dto sld; 42-501b, sd. Light-weight secondary carcases meet with a good inpuiry at 5 5-16 dto s|d. Prim© Southland* and North Island descriptions are quoted at sgd per lb for under 361b, sid per lb for the 36-421b grade, and 4gd per lb for 42-501b. Australian lamt3 of light weight realise round about 5d per lb. Supplies of frozen beef continue to bs light. They are firmly held. The lower price, for chilled fceef have, however,, seriously weakened the raarket for" the frozen kind, espcio-Ilv in the case of hind-quarters. Messrs \Yeddel note the arrival of 14,300 quarters from New Zealand, 64.500 quarters from the River PlateT and 2500 nuartcxs from Australia during the lash fortnight. According to the C.C. and D. Company. 193.697 carcases of New Zealand sheep have arrived in the last four weeks — a fair av2ra.se for the time of year; but the total raaeipt3 to date (1,233,732 carcases) show the substantial decrease of 326.172 carcases on last year's figures. Altogether the receipts" of frozen mutton from all sources reveal a shortage of 436,222 carcases; but it must be admitted tha>t the deficiency has bad practically no effect on prices. ~- The demand for mutton has bean very, disappointing, and even when beef jvas at its dearest there was no evidence of the inquiry being diverted to mutton. Canterbury sheep axe again available in limited numbers, and can be quoted at about 4id per lb for light carcases. The heaviest grades can be bought at 3£d per lb. An attempt to improve the valve of North Island cheep met with v.o suedes*, and the quotation remains at 3§d for light carcases and 3id par lb for medium weights, and is firm at these figures. Heavy weights have been in better request than for sobc time past, bwt »ro relatively scarce. Ewes meet a fair sale at about 3£d per lb. To date, supplies of New Zealand lambs show a deficiency of 262,731 carcaees. but. there ha-s Keen an increase *o <2ate VI 119,077 carca-cs in the export from South America. The demand for lamb has fallen off in a ma<rked degree, which, the C.C. and D. Company remark, is all the more noticeable after the successful ©sason which has been experienced. The competition of Dutch and Scottish lambs is responsible for this to a large extent, and when the&3 supplies oeaec there nray be some* recovery. Light lambs are still yery readily saleable at full prices— say, up to ssd ocr lb for Canterbury brands and s^d for North Island, — but medium and heavy weights are difficult to more, and the value of these grades is steadily declining. Medium-weiirht Canterbury lambs can 1~-3 bought at s£d to s|d per lb, and North Islands at sid to 5Jd per lb.