WAR INTERRUPTS COMMERCE

Southland Times, Issue 22994, 14 September 1936, Page 7

WAR INTERRUPTS COMMERCE

No Fruit From Spain LIFELESS WEEK ON STOCK MARKETS UNEXPECTED COLLAPSE IN BUTTER (United Press Assn. —Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 6.30 p.m.) London, September 12. The Spanish civil war is creating serious difficulties for British importers and merchants. Shipments of Spanish grapes are indefinitely held up, and it is uncertain whether the usual November supplies of Seville oranges will arrive, as the fighting has causid lack of attention to the trees and has damaged the crop. It is also feared that the Christmas trade in dried fruits will be seriously hit. Consequently Australian varieties are in increasingly good demand. The position of the firms operating copper and iron pyrites mines in Spain is serious. All the British concessions are in areas occupied by the insurgents, who insist on receiving full value in foreign currency for cargoes exported, while the British Government requires that the value again be paid on arrival in Britain; the proceeds are entered into the Anglo-Spanish trading account. Insofar as it has increased the difficulties of the French Government, resulting in a renewed attack on the franc, the Spanish situation has been a depressing influence on the stock markets, which passed a lifeless week. The outbursts at the' Nazi Congress at Nuremberg caused general uneasiness, and in view of this combination of influences it is not surprising that the advance in industrials was halted. Oils and gold shares were quiet. Gloomy Butter Market. There has been an unexpected collapse in butter. Tooley Street gloomily inclines to the belief that the market has not yet touched bottom. Operators are definitely nervous, especially as they recall that prices went to pieces in October 1935. One of the few props to the market has been the prospect of an American inquiry owing to the drought affecting production there, but so far only a few odd shipments have materialized. Continental varieties are also depressed, though Danish was pegged in the last few weeks. Some dealers are hopeful of a slight improvement when buyers regain confidence, but none will go so far as to predict a recovery to any marked extent. Cheese is affected bv the weakness in butter, but the position is statistically sound. Wool-buyers find difficulty in assessing the course of values at the London sales. They are impressed by the small quantities offering, which emphasizes that stocks are very much lower than they have been at this time of the year for a long time. The extent of the Continental demand is uncertain; some feel that the recent novements of the franc make France an important influence and Italy will possibly operate. Responsible traders expect that the sales will not open on a lower level than the values now ruling in Australia.