COMMERCIAL

Southland Times, Issue 19654, 3 October 1922, Page 2

COMMERCIAL

STOCK EXCHANGES. YESTERDAY’S BUSINESS. At yesterday’s sitting of the Invercargill Stock Exchange a sale of 1930 War Bonds was reported at £96. The following rates were quoted:— N.Z. Coal & Oil, buyers 2/6, sellers 3/-. Westport Coal, sellers 32/9. Standard Insurance, sellers 31/6. Wright, Stephenson & Co. (ord.), buyers 26/-.. N.Z. Milk Products, buyers 20/6. Southland Frozen Meat Co. (£1 ord.), buyers 26/-, sellers 27/-; (10/- ord. >, buyers 12/9; (£1 pref.), buyers 26/-. Union Company, sellers 23/-. N.Z. Drugs, buyers 52/6, sellers 54/-. N.Z. Paper Mills, buyers 20/9. War Bonds (1930), buyers £95 10/-; (1938), buyers £95 10/-; (1939), buyers £95 10/-. Post Office Bonds (1927), buyers £96. N.Z. Government Soldiers’ Settlement, sellers £99 10/-. DUNEDIN. (Per United Press Association.) DUNEDIN, October 2. Share quotations: Bank of- New Zealand, 54/3, 55/3; National Bank, £5 19/6, £6 1/6; P. & O. Bank, sellers £l4 2/6; Union Bank, £l3 1/-, £l3 3/-. National Insurance, sellers 68/-; New Zealand Insurance, fellers 28/3; Standard Insurance, 30/6, 31/6. Huddart, Parker, ord. 48/9, 49/-; P. and O. deferred, sellers £330; Union Steam, pref. 19/4, 20/-; Westport Coal, sellers 32/9; Westport-Stockton, ord., sellers 5/1; Goldsbrough, Mort., 40/-, 42/-; National Mortgage, 69/-, 70/6; Loan & Mercantile, ord., sellers £81; Perpetual Trustees, buyers 36/6; Trustees Executors and Agency, buyers 46/6; Wright, Stephenson pref., buyers 14/6; Refrigerating, paid,

23/9, 24/3, cont. 12/6, 12/9; Southland Frozen Meat, ord., buyers 24/-; Brown, Ewing, ord., buyers 25/-, pref, buyers 20/-; D.1.C., pref, buyers 20/3, 20/8; Dominion Rubber, buyers 10/-; Dunedin-Kaik oral Trams, buyers 22/6; Dunedin Stock Exchange Proprietary, buyers 40/-; Kaiapoi Woollen cont. buyers 10/9; Milburn Lime, buyers 30/6; Mosgiel Woollen, buyers £6 10/-; McLeod’s Soap, buyers £l4; National Electric, 22/3, 22/9; New Zealand Drug, 53/-, 53/9; New’ Zealand Express, ord., sellers 16/-; New’ Zealand Hardware, (buyers 7/3; Paper Mills, paid, buyers 20/9, cont. buyers par; Otago Daily Times, buyerfs 50/-; Smith & Smith, pref., buyers 18/7; Wilson’s Cement, sellers 20/-; Waihi 127/3, 28/-; Grand Junction, 9/1, 9/4; Electrolytic Zinc, sellers 26/3; Mount Lyell, sellers 20/3, 41/2. Bonds, 1930, buyers £96, 1938, buyers £96; 1939, buyers £96; 51 per cent. Soldier Settlement, 1933, sellers £99 15/-; 44 per cent. Inscribed, 1938, £96 2/6, £96 10/-; 1939, £96 2/6, £96 10/-; 54 per cent. Inscribed Soldier Settlement, 1933, buyers £99 5/-; 5 per cent. P.O. Bonds, 1927, buyers £96, 5 per cent. Inscribed Post Office, 1927, sellers £96 5/-. CHRISTCHURCH. CHRISTCHURCH, October 2. Sales reported: New Zealand Government 44 per cent., 1938, £96 5/-. Sale on ’Change: Canterbury Frozen Meat, £l4 8/,. AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, October 2. Sales: New Zealand Inscribed, 1938, £96; Bank of New South Wales, £34 13/-; South British, 34/9; Auckland Gas, 23/-. 23/3; Milk Products, 22/-; Wilson’s Cement, 19/9; Grand Junction,. 9/1. Quotations: National Bank, £65 18/6; Bank of New South Wales, £35 10/-, £34 5/-; Bank of New Zealand, 55/-, 54/3; P. and 0. Bank, sellers £l4 7/6; Union Bank, £l3 5/-, £l3. National Insurance, 67/6, 65/3; Nev; Zealand Insurance, 28/3, 37/-; South British Insurance, 35/3, 34/6;

Goldsborough, Mort., 42/-, 40/-; River Plate, 20/-, 19/3; Loan <t Mercantile, £77, £72 10/-, pref, buyers £67; Taupiri Coal, 17/6, 17/-, pref, ex-div., buyers 22/3; Waipa, buyers 16/3; West-port, 32/6, 32/-; Auckland Gas, 23/6, 23/3, contrib. 18/9, 18/4; Gisborne Gas, buyers 11/6 ; Howard Smith, 45/-, 43/9; Huddart Parker, 49/9, 49/-; Union Steam, pref., 20/-, 18/9; Kauri Timber, 29/3, 27/9; Inland O’Brien, buyers 34/6; Parker, Lamb, 24/3, 23/-; Kaiapoi Woollen (10/- paid), 12/-, 10/10; Auckland Trams, 19/3, 18/9, pref. 18/9, 18/-; Burns Philp, 34/-, 32/3; Fiji Sugar £l5 7/6, £l5; Gear Meat, sellers 37/3; Meredith's, Samoa, sellers, 10/6; Milk Products, 22/-, 21/6; Paper Mills, buyers 20/6; Refrigerating, 24/9, 23/9, contrib. 13/3, 12/3; Kauri Oils. 8?-, 4/-; Wilson’s Cement, 19/11, 19/9; Moanatairi, 3/2, 3/1; Hauraki Mines, sellers 2/6; Muir’s Reefs, buyers 28/6; Ohinemuri, sellers 2/6, Waihi, 28/6, 27/9; Grand Junction, 3/1, 8/10: Mt Lyell, 21/3, 19/6. Debentures: —Auckland Gas, 1928, buyers £101; Auckland Harbour 6 per cent., buyers £101; City of Auckland, 1940, £94, £92; Devonport Borough, sellers £lOO 15/-; Bycroft’s, sellers £100; Macky, Logan, buyers £99; Mt Eden Borough, sellers £110; Milne & Choyce, £lOO, £95; War Loan, 1938, £96 5/-, £95 15/-; 1939,. £96 5/-, £95 15/-; 1927, £96 5/-, £95 10/-; Soldiers’ Bonds, sellers £99 5/-; New Zealand Inscribed, 1927, sellers £96 5/-; 1928, £96 10/-, £95; 1939, sellers £96 5/-; Soldiers’ Inscribed, £99 10/-, £99. OAMARU MARKETS. OAMARU, October 2. There is not much that is new to be said in connection with the local grain and produce market. There has been a little mere activity in connection with milling wheat, a fair quantity having been sold for shipment to the North Island at full Government rates. A couple of transactions in fowl wheat arc reported, one line having been taken at a country station at 3/10 net, and the other, a line of whole w’heat affected by smut, at 47-, f.o.b. The firming of oats has been foliow-ed by holders in the country acquiring firmness. For the most part they are asking something over the current • market rates, and business has consequently been restricted. One line of A grade Gartons changed hands at 2/4 net, which may be taken to represent current values. The stock market shows no improvement. There has been rain on several days during the week, but it has been light and of short duration, and, while highly welcome. It- has not amounted to much in the aggregate. The acquired moisture, in short, has been far from sufficient to restore shaken confidence in the matter of feed. As a natural consequence there are more sellers of stock than there are buyers, and business continues exceedingly 1 slow. A really good rain would completely change the position, but disappointments have been many, and from lack of feed stock, and particularly cattle, have run down in condition, making sales still harder to effect. There has been a little movement in sheep. The yarding at the weekly side was small, and the whole of the offering was not cleared, a line of store wethers being withdrawn at 18/-. Fat wethers went at 25/-, and a pen of store wether hoggets realised 15/-. About the best selling sheep are ewe hoggets, and business has been done in these at 2()/-. Sound-mouthed ewes with lambs have changed hands at 14/-, all counted, and wether hogget* have been placed at 15/-.

Cattle generally have dropped to very low prices, the only exception being good fat bullocks, which are not offering at all freely here, better markets being found elsewhere. At the regular market sale some lightweight bullocks sold at from £6 15/- to £7 15/-, and fat cows went at from £2 10/to £6 10/-. At the same sale two-year-old store steers were disposed of at £2 7/- and £2 10/-, but sales have been made privately at £3. Some mixed-sex yearlings have been placed at 30/-. The worst feature of the cattle market has been in respect to dairy stock. A great many farmers have been compelled to reduce their herds in order to conserve feed for a smaller number, and this has meant practically giving away what are useful dairy cows. At this week’s sale there was a fairly large yarding, and, while the pick of the lot touched as high as £9 10/-, there was a tapering-off in prices down to £l, amongst those sold at this figure being a nice Jersey heifer. By private treaty a well-bred cow in good condition and close to calving was placed at £l2, but the prices of others ranged from £8 down to LJ. All this, of course, means that the dairying industry is going to suffer pretty badly this season. WELLINGTON WOOL SALE. ACTIVE DEMAND. PRICES WELL MAINTAINED. The Wellington woolbrokers held the final sale of the season last Friday, when catalogues aggregating 1281 bales were submitted, and practically the lot sold, for the withdrawals were exceedingly small. There was a fairly full bench of buyers present. Bradford and Japan being specially represented, and bidding generally was keen and animated. The bulk of the"offering consisted of crutchings, and these sold well, Japan and Bradford taking fair quantities, and local mills and fellmonger.i and scourers being strongly in evidence. Crutchings realised up to the level of prices ruling at the last sale held on July 20, the best sorts making 5d to 54d and up to 6d, the bulk, however, sold at about sd. Bellies and pieces received a good deal of attention, and exhibited a firmer tone. Locks and stained pieces sold at about last sale’s rates. There were some odd lots oi fleece wool, a bale or two in each catalogue, and though selling readily the prices were not quite up to those realised at last sales. The official quotations, compared with those ruling at the July sale, show as under— July 20. Sept. 29. Crossbred, fine 74d-104d lljd Crossbred, mediumcoarse .. . ’ .. sd-8d 4fd 94d Pieces and bellies 24d-s|d 24d-6d Locks and stained ' pieces ljd-31d ld-3d Crutchings— Superiors4d-6d 4Ad-6d Medium to good 4d-54d 4d-s|d Seedy and inferior 2d-44d lid-44d . Lambs 3id-104d Dead 3d-7d A NEW MOTOR VENTURE. It is reported that a strong commercial group in Wellington is forming definite ideas in. the direction of establishing a New Zealand Guarantee Company, designed to conduct a financial business, particularly in connection with making advances to facilitate the credit sales of commercial motor vehicles. The charges will be based on a scale approximating that adopted by similar corporations which have been successful in the United States of America, England, Canada, and more recently in Australia. Quite apart from the trading benefit which such concerns afford both buyers and sellers in affording accommodation to facilitate business, the returns on capital so employed are stated to be distinctly safe and remunerative. It is reported that the New Zealand Company now in contemplation will have a capital of £200,009, and is expected to rank among the prominent commercial concerns of the Dominion. BUTTER AND CHEESE. PROSPECT’S APPEAR GOOD. The prospects for both butter and cheese appear good, the. former selling round about 214/- for finest New Zealand salted, and cheese averaging about 90/-. The strength of the position of butter is to some extent due to the alterations in countries of supply since the war. Russia, which used to contribute large quantities, is jjq longer a supplier, although small shipments were received early in August from the Baltic Provinces. The main factor in the situation is the consumptive demand in Qritain. Owing to bad trade, unemployment, and the high cost, of living, dain- produce is one of the first, food commoditiet for which the public, demand decreases immediately retail prices advance above a certain level. Of course, there is always an outlet for a certain quantity, whatever the price, but the public, being very sensitrVe to the retail figure, the demand almost immediately increases or diminishes as retail prices go up or down. With the wholesale price at 214/-, or 1/10$ per lb, the retail price cannot, be much lower than 2/1 per lb, and at this price there appears to be a good consumptive demand. Of course, those who want cheaper butter have the choice of Australian, Argentine, and Irish butters. Should the retail price of New Zealand butter go up to 2/4 or 2/6, the consumption will fall away, for those in the habit of buying New Zealand butter will turn their attention to the cheaper lines, while the poorer people will then turn to substitutes like margarine, and there are other substitutes. New Australian butter must now be reaching the Home market, and as greater attention is being paid to quality and the output is expanding, the competition from this source must have a bearing on the future of the market. The imports of butter into the United Kingdom during the seven months ended July 31, compared with the figures for the corresponding period of last year, show as

Totals 2,768,413 2,403,968 The increase for the seven months totals 364,445 cwt. New Zealand supplies increased by 180,780 cwt, Denmark by 126,710 cwt, Australia by 57,234 cwt, although there was a sharp decline in Victorian supplies. The United States and Canada increased their shipments substantially, although their totals are small. The “other countries” increased their supplies by 142£ per cent.

under — Cwt. Cwt. 1922. 1921. Sweden 6.125 1 Denmark 803,470 676,760 Netherlands 44,138 57,664 France 6,031 398 United Slates .. . 21.059 1,882 Argentine 246 919 Victoria 219,579 374,987 Nev? South Wales . 238,254 155,904 Queensland 284,383 154,091 New Zealand .. . 758,244 577,464 Canada 46,989 14,584 Other countries.. . 93,222 38,410