COMMERCIAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 11250, 15 April 1908, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

LONDON, April 11. Colonial butter is quiet .and unchanged. Danish is weaker, being quoted at 108s to 110s. New Zealand lias been cleared, and 110s to 112s is asked for next arrival. The Bradford wool market is very quiet. Forties arc quoted a.t 9d; 46's lid, common 60's 22d, super 23d.

Messrs Williams and Kettle, Ltd., are in receipt of. the following report from their London agents, dated 6th March, regarding the wool market at Home: —Wool: During the past month the market has undergone an unfavorable change, and values of tops in Bradford nave fallen about l£d per lb, a, 40's quality to-day being obtainable at lid to ll^d per lb. The consumption of merjnos and the finer descriptions of crossbreds has been fairly maintained, but with some easing down in prices, whilst demand for the coarser grades of crossbreds has been very restricted. The outlook, therefore, for the next auctions, to commence on the 17th inst., is not by any means hopeful and unless a complete change comes over the market within the next few days, of which there are no signs at present, we look for a lower range of values all round. Supplies of raw material for the next few months are likely to be very heavy, and this accentuates the weakness of .the. position. The fresh arrivals to date amount to 164,076 bales, including some 7355 bales from the Cape. The Bank of Ijfew Zealand produce circular, dated London, 4th March, reports : —Wool :The first series of colonial wool sales, which, opened on 21sb January, closed on 7th February. Of 187,---000 bales available 157,000. bales wer§ sold', 81,000 bales . j[or Home consumption, 70,000 bales to the Continent, and 6,000 bales to America-r-leaving 30 000 bales to be carried forward, of wnich 7,000 bales are New Zealand. Owing to the uncertainty of the future of the trade, the market since the close of last series of sales has continued very unsettled. Spinners. find manufacturers have all through been' kept busy on old orders, but they are now beginning to find that new orders are not coming in in a satisfactory manner andi they are somewhat apprehensive .in regard to the future. Merinos have kept steadier than crossbreds, but they too have lost ground in the interval. Large quantities of dear wool bought in Australia are now arriving, and it is but natural that' the purchasers, who have heavy losses to face, should not feel disposed to lay in fresh supplies for the time being. Crossbreds: The position in Bradford,, according to latest reports, is far from encouraging. It will be seen from the list of current prices for tops that 40's quality (Lincoln) is quoted at ll_d per lb, which compares with 12fd/a month ago, and 17£d a year" ago—a drop of about 35 per cent, on thelatter figure. It is said that dealers, who have mostly very little stock on hand and ' have practically bought nothing in the Dominion, are taking full advantage of ".the.; depression by persistently "bearing" the market with the view of getting in at bottom prices while supplies are heavy. Should' this be the case the improvement might take place later on -in the year,' but, much will depend upon the state of the trade in the near future. In Germany and the United States the demand for wool remains more or less at a standstill, in spite of the easier condition of the money markets. With all these adverse factors weighing on the industry, the' outlook for the March sales.' is not therefore encouraging.. Meat (frozen) Mutton (N.Z.): Prime quality is very scarce, and prices for these are relatively high. Arrivals lately have been light, which has enabled holders to reduce stocks in store and tho outlook is ibetter than it has been for some months pastu River Plate sheep are also dearer. Lamb: Good wellmatured lambs and!/tegs are scarce and meet with a ready sale. Small immature lambs are, on the other hand, plentiful, and; as they compete with Australian, prices for them arc rather low. Beef: Supplies of both chilled and frozen are large and prices ■ foi. 1 New Zealand are moderate. > ','•