DUNEDIN MARKETS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3912, 5 March 1929, Page 21

DUNEDIN MARKETS.

WHEAT, OATS, ETC. Friday Evening. There is no alteration in the milling wheat market. A fair quantity of free ' -wheat is still offering, especially from Canterbury, but. millers are not showing much interest, as they are taking delivery of purchases made earlier in the season. For Tuscan, offered from • Canterbury, 5s Bd, sacks extra, on trucks, is being asked, with 6s for Hunters and 6s 6d for Velvet. Nearly all of the wheat controlled by the pool is being stored, as millers are not prepared to pay the prices asked. Threshing is now general in Canterbury, and is increasing in the South Otago district. The Taieri wheat is of good quality, and the yields are higher than for a number of years past. Given favourable weather for the next few weeks, most of the Taieri wheat should be of good milling quality. In the Central Otago district threshing has - been carried out for some time. Here again the quality is good, and the yields above the average. .Little fowl wheat is on offer, but there is sufficient to meet the demand. Mer- . chants are working from hand to. mouth in their purchases. Up to 6s per bushel, sacks extra, for small lots, is the ruling ‘ price. The shipping market' is firmer, and there is now more buying for the . North Island of the wheat carried over in Canterbury from last season. Sales have . been reported .at 5s Bd, f.0.b., sacks extra. Millers’ prices for flour, etc., are as follow:—

Flour: 2001 b, £l6 15s; 100’s, £l7 15s; 50’s, £18; 25’s, £lB 10s. Bran, £7- per ton.. Pollard, £8 10s. Oatmeal: 25’s, £25 10s; 200’s, £24 10s.. Apart from the forward position, little interest is Being displayed in the oat market. A number of sales have been recorded for forward delivery, but, on the other hand, there are operators who maintain that prices have now reached their bottom' level. The forward sales referred to have been made on a basis of . 3s 4d, f.0.b., s.i., "for A*s, and 3s Id for . B’s, deliveries being from April to September. - So far as this district is concerned, . practically no oats are being offered, and in Canterbury merchants are experiencing a difficulty in selling the lines they

have purchased from farmers. There is no life ih the market for prompt apart from one or two millers securing lines of heavy oats suitable for the mlling trade. North Island merchants" are not buying to any extent for feed purposes. Current values may be named as 2s Bd, sacks extra, country sidings for A’s and 2s 5d for B’s. - Small consignments of chaff are reaching the market, but they suffice to,meet the demand. The bulk of the supplies are still coming from Canterbuy. Values remain unchanged at £5 15s per ton, sacks extra, ex truck for good quality, and £6 ex store. Local growers are not prepared to sell at the foregoing figures. New chaff is now available in Blenheim at £5.5s to £5 7s 6d per ton prompt shipment.

The potato market is lifeless. The turnover is_small with buyers working mostly from hand to mouth. Only the best quality is inqured for, and any lots not up' to that standard are hard to place. Best quality is realising £5 10s per ton, sacks included. Not much alteration is expected in the market until buyers can stock up more freely with potatoes of better keeping quality.

The ryegrass market remains firm, but there is a variation in the ideas of values. Some merchants are not prepared to follow the trend of the market, in view of a prospective lack of demand from the North Island for the autumn sowing. Up to 4s 3d per bushel, sacks extra, on trucks, has been paid for the best quality Growers are not offering dogstail so readily as was anticipated would be the case, and in their anxiety to cover their forward commitments, some merchants have had to advance buying prices. Produce lines are quoted wholesale as follow:—

Chaff, £6 per ton, ex store; £5 15s per ton, sacks extra, ex truck.

Potatoes: Taieri and. Oamaru, £5 10s per ton.

Eggs: Stamped, Is 8d; case, Is 7d. Dairy Butter: Milled bulk, Is 3d per lb; pats, Is 3d. Bacon, to Is Id per lb. Hams, Is 2d per lb; boneless, Is 4d. Honey: Bulk, 4d to 4Jd per lb.

Onions: Canterbury, Us to 12s per cwt; Auckland, 12s. FRUIT REPORT. Apples are more plentiful. Choice quality sells readily, but poor fruit is hard to place. Pears are arriving freely from Centra! Otago. Many of the lines of Bon Cbretians are in an over ripe condition, and these have to be placed at low prices. Cookers are also plentiful, but the demand is not very keen.

Outside-grown tomatoes are arriving from Christchurch and Central Otago. The. demand is practically confined to goodconditioned lots.

Plums are in short supply. Nectarines have been plentiful, and prices have eased.

Peaches have also been in good supply. Practically all classes of fruit have been offering freely, but the sales in the marts, are not very-brisk. Retailers are complaining that the people are not buying to the usual extent. As a matter of fact, the local market is easily glutted. Outside-grown cucumbers are offering at low rates.

A few’ buckets of raspberries are still reaching the market. The demand is poor.

Peas are more plentiful, and prices have dropped.

Vegetable marrows are in over supply. Pumpkins, on the other hand, are scarce, and are selling at 14d per lb.' The wholesale prices are as follow:— Apples: Gravensteins, 8s 6d to 9s per case; Worcester Pearmain, 6s 6d to 7s 6d; choice, cookers, 5s 6d to 6s 6d; inferior desserts and cookers, 3s 6d to 4s 6d. Tomatoes: Christchurch, 2d to 3d for firsts; medium, Id to 2d; Central Otago, lid to 3d; local hothouse, to 6d. Plums: Dessert, to 2Jd; cookers, Id. Nectarines, in crates, 21d to 34d per lb; cases, 3s 6d to 4s 6d. Peaches: Choice, in crates, 2|d to 3d per lb; half-cases, 3s to 4s.

Pears: Dessert, 2s 6d to 3s 6d per half-case; cookers, 2s to 3s. Blackberries, to 6d per lb. Raspberries: Local grown, to 5s per 121 b bucket.

Oranges: American navels, 45s to 47s 6d per repacked case.

Lemons: Californian (360 in a case). 455.

Green peas, 2d,to 3d per lb. Cucumbers: Outside grown, to 3s per half case.

New potatoes, 6s per cwt. French beans, to 41d per lb; runners, 2d to 3d.

Cabbages: Choice, 4s to 5s per sack; others, 2s.

Lettuce: Choice, to Is 6d per dozen; others Unsaleable.

New carrots, up to Is per dozen bundles. Rhubarb, Is 6d per dozen bundles of Hb each; loose, Id per lb. Beetroot, Is per dozen bunches. Vegetable marrows, 5s to 6s per sack New season’s swedes, 2s 6d per dump case.

Saturday Morning. The next sugar boat is the Kekarangi, which ia due on Wednesday. She will be followed by the Wingatui, duo on March 11.

Molasses, 561 b, has been increased in price by £1 per ton.

The Rimutaka, which is due this week, is bringirig supplies of Wright’s coal tar soap, Benger’s food (large and small), Oakey’s knife polish, cream of tartar, butter beans, and bulk, stoned, and loosely-packed dates. -

The Karetu, from Sydney, has brought supplies of Chinese pea nuts (in-shell),:-walnut meat, shelled pea nuts, tea, and transhipments of other, eastern lines. Small supplies of the new line of Army Club cigarettes, green shield, have reached the market.

Dark brown nugget polish is now being packed in large size tins. The tapioca market is keeping very firm. A slight advance in price has been recorded in Penang, although no change is so far reported from Singapore. Reports from the East state that the pepper market continues firm.