RISE IN SUGAR PRICE ANNOUNCED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18016, 29 November 1926, Page 9

RISE IN SUGAR PRICE ANNOUNCED.

EGGS MAY GO UP BEFORE HOLIDAYS. A rise of 25s a ton in the wholesale price of sugar is announced. A readjustment of the retail prices will be made, but this morning the grocers of Christchurch had not decided by how much they would advance their prices. It is expected, however, that the retail price of sugar will be advanced by id a lb, and that the price of the 701 b bag will be raised by Is. This will make the retail prices 3id a lb and 18s 6d for the 701 b bag. The rise in the price of sugar was not unexpected by those in the trade. The world’s market for sugar has had a rising tendency of late, and it was expected that prices in New Zealand would increase to world's parity. The wholesale increase applies to all grades of raw and refined sugar, and an increase has also been made in the wholesale rates for golden syrup and treacle. EGGS. Last week there was an increase of Id a dozen in the wholesale and retail prices of eggs. The demand for eggs is very keen, and the increase has been easily maintained, and there are indications that there will be another rise of Id a dozen before Christmas. The supply of eggs is starting to go off. and. against this the demand for therp rei mains very active. BUTTER. There has been no change in the price of butter on the. local market for some weeks now. When the price of New Zealand butter dropped on the London market, prices here went down in sympathy. Lately, however, the ' London market has shown an improvement, and the outlook is better than it was. In view of the improvement at Home, a local grocer stated this morning that he would not be surprised to see a rise in the price of butter in Christchurch shortly. VEGETABLES AND FRUIT. Most classes of vegetables were in rather short supply this morning, and prices for some varieties were dearer. This was due chiefly to the cold snap that has been experienced, and it is expected that supplies will be more plentiful in a day or two. Cabbages this morning were being retailed at 4d each, cauliflowers at Is each, lettuces at 3d each, turnips at 3d a bunch, green peas at 6d a lb. Sydney cucum- ; bers at 6d and 9d each, local hothouse i grown cucumbers Is 6d a lb. Locally j grown new potatoes are now coming in more plentifully. To-day they were being retailed at 6d a lb, compared ' with Sd a lb last week. New potatoes from the Hutt Valley cost Is for 31b and 41b. Strawberries cost Is, Is 6d and 2s 6d a box, cherries Is 6d a .lb, American grape fruit 9d each. American grapes )2s 6d a ib, American navel oranges ! three for Is, sweet Valencia oranges j five and six for Is, bananas six, eight and ten for Is, Canadian Delicious ; apples six for Is, Canadian Jonathans j six for Is, American lemons six for Is, gooseberries Gd a lb. FISH. The rough weather experienced during the we. k-end resulted in a short supply of fresh fish to-day. Not only were the supplies short, but there was also not much of a variety. Following are some prices per lb for fresh fish: — Grcper Is (in the piece), Is 3d (cutlets), ling Bd, terakihi 8d and soles Is 3d. Whitebait was very scarce and dear this morning. The bad weather has, of course, been responsible for this. No whitebait has been received from the West Coast recently* but with an improvement in the weather the local •supplies should increase. TEA. Latest advices are to the effect that the tea market is still very firm for grades that are imported into New Zealand. The common lines can be purchased at reasonable prices, but this is of no interest to Dominion importers, as the common grades are not what the public require here. The better-class teas, such as are in demand in this country, have been high-priced for a long time now, and those in a position to judge expect that they will continue to command high prices for some time yet.