DOMINION’S TRADE

Southland Times, Issue 17654, 11 February 1916, Page 6

DOMINION’S TRADE

RETURNS FOR LAST YEAR. EXPORTS INCREASE NEARLY' 54i MILLIONS. The full details of last year’s trade arc Just to hand, and the increases over previous years are so enormous that a tabulated list of our principal exports will be of exceptional interest. The figures show how the war has iniYuCnced cur exports by raising prices, and this la turn has stimulated production, so that in a good many ca-ses an increased quantity haa contributed to the high value recorded during the past year. The principal produces compare as follows during the last three years:— 1913. 1914. 1915. £ £ £ Wool . . 8,058,620 9,318.114 10,387,875 Butter . . 2,061.651 2,338,576 2,700,625 Cheese . . 1,770,297 2,564,125 2,730,211 Beef . . . 347.383 1.029.529 1,626,157 Mutton . 1.630,332 2,115,080 2,893,161 Lamb 2,332,3-72 2,554,517 3,004,051 Other meat 257,379 291,929 271,026 Tallow . . 663,088 694,348 780,828 Skins . . 937,631 955.538 912,698 Hides . . 201,744 358,618 506,189 Leather 31,945 40,965 61,794 Sausage skins . 93,251 139.452 192,028 Gold . . 1,459.499 895,367 1,694,553 Kauri gum 549,106 497,444 279,133 Timber . 319,055 422,550 383,883 Flax . . . 721,924 455,214 571,621 Tow ... 65,138 37,016 38,438 Coal . . . 205,010 282,163 329,731 Oats ... 29,252 165,930 132,827 Wheat 11,816 3,580 128 Chaff . . 1.153 7,609 154,552 Potatoes . 7,443 7,014 135.552 Seeds . . 60,492 73,551 42,314 Silver . 103.866 62,085 95,583 Specie . . 176,359 7,523 318,090 Sundries . 834,860 943,611 1,475,864 Totals £22,990,672 £26,261.447 £31,748,912 Several of the products show a falling off, by far the most noticeable being in kauri gum.., Grain shows a falling off that was only natural after the poor harvest of last year, but against this there was a phenomenal increase in chaff and potatoes, which were both in heavy demand for Australia during the winter. Seeds have also declined as a result of the dry weather reducing the crop last year, and the influence of that factor also caused an increase in the importation from £98,302 to £243,801, besides decreasing the export as shown above. IMPORTS. With regard to imports, the Gazette also provides the fignres for an interesting comparison between different ports of the dominion. Arranged according to values for 1915, the chief ports compare as under for the last three years:— 1913. 1914. 1915. ££ £ , .Wellington 6,354,746 6,503,056 6,904,346 Auckland 6,610,745 6,548,880 6,494,462 Lyttelton 3,256,075 3,332.734 3,295,268 Dunedin . 2,817,244 2,619,829 2,542,381 Napier . 584,901 618,035 545,205 Invercargill 595,199 584,772 486,816 Tlmaru . 401.532 415.376 362,079 Wanganui 257,214 294,789 268,274 The most noticeable feature in this return is that AVellington has displaced Auckland in the lead, owing to the establishment of Trentham, May Morn, and other camps. With regard to the source of our supplies, some of the largest fluctuations have taken place in our imports from the following countries:— 1013. 1914. 1915. £ £ £ U. Kingdom . 13.312,193 12,006,395 11,141,067 Australia 2,914.848 3,378,371 3,554,535 U. States 2,107,990 2,282,966 2,600,248 Canada . 452,519 479,238 797,816 Fiji . . 846,493 738,751 1,128,959 Germany 687,935 620,400 7,790 Japan . 151,106 187,501 304,323