TOBACCO PRICES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume V, Issue 1293, 5 April 1918, Page 4

TOBACCO PRICES.

BIG LOCAL INCREASE.

AMERICAN PRODUCTS AFFECTED.

There has been a substantial increase locally in the price of American brands of tobacco, in consequence of the great increase in the price of the leaf in America. The rise in freights has also affected the price, and tobacco shipments which used to come from New York direct have now to be transported across the continent for shipment at West Coast ports. There has been an advance of 9d per lb on the wholesale price of some plug brands, and lid per lb on tins. Certain brands are now being retailed at 1/3 per two-ounce tin, an increase of 2d on the previous rates. Some plugs are now 1/- instead of lid, and others are 1/2 and 1/10, instead of 1/1 and 1/8 as before. The demand for cigarettes is still high, despite the advanced prices. Great difficulty is experienced, however, in obtaining full supplies of all tobacco and cigarettes, owing to the shortage of shipping and the preference given to foodstuffs and military necessaries in the matter of space, and this difficulty is likely to increase. The following report by a well-known New York firm on February 15 last, comparing prices ruling at Louisville at that time with the prices for the corresponding period for 1917, amply describes the rise in tobacco:—Common 1/- (lid), medium 1/1 (8d), fine 1/3 (9id). The 1917 rates are given in parentheses. There is, of course, duty to be added to these prices, and freight rates to be taken into consideration. The freights to New Zealand are now £lO per ton, as compared with £2 5/- in normal times.