COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume IX, Issue 5, 20 November 1914, Page 393

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

HIDES, SKINS, AND TALLOW.

THE LONDON POSITION.

Under date of London, 10th September, the High Commissioner reports : I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your cablegram of the Bth instant reading as follows Please cable latest quotations hides, skins, and tallow” to advise you that in accordance with the same I have had inquiries made, and have forwarded to you to-day a cable reading as under : “In reply to your telegram of Bth September, very little doing in hide.trade. Average price New Zealand BJd. Quotations are nominal. Latest quotations sheep-skins (last sale 30th July): —full-woolled 7|d.-gjd., shorn 4|d.-7|d. ; crossbred —fine B|d.-n§d., coarse BJd.-io|d., shorn 5d.-gd. Present quotations are not reliable. There are only a few private sales after that date. Tendency is downward. Next sale will take place on 17th September. Anticipated by. brokers considerable fall in prices is likely to occur—id—i|d. especially in case of shorns. Will cable result. Tallow sale took place on 9th September. There is a fair demand for better grades ; there is no demand for poorer grades. 1,400 barrels offered, 500 barrels sold. Mutton 375. first-class quality, 345. medium quality, 275. inferior quality beef—--315., 265/ 6d.” While tanned and dressed leather is in good demand at slightly higher prices than were ruling prior to the war, there has been less demand for raw hides on 'account of the general dislocation of business and industry. There have not been many New Zealand hides on the market, but those which have been sold have fetched about BJd. per pound, a reduction of |d. to fd. compared with the price ruling at the end of July. The quotations for sheep-skins at present are not very reliable, as they are based more or less on sales which took place immediately prior to the outbreak of war— on the 30th July. Since that date very few private sales have taken place, but the whole tendency of the market is in a downward direction, and, as stated in my cable, the brokers anticipate a decided fall at the next sale on the 17th instant. < The only demand is for long-woolled skins such as may be used in the manufacture of khaki. Medium length and shorn are very little asked for. I will cable you later as to the result of the sale. At the tallow sale on the 19th August only a small portion of that offered changed hands, and that at about is. per cwt. decline from previous prices. Since then, however, there has been a little more demand for higher-grade tallow for edible purposes, and this, in consequence, has recovered in price. There is still very little demand for interior grades. At the tallow sales yesterday only 500 barrels were sold out of 1,400 offered, and most of those purchased were of superior grade. As indicated in my cable, the finest quality of mutton tallow amounted to 375., and beef 345.

Export of Stock.- —The live-stock exported during the month of October was : From Auckland, 7 horses (light mares), 97 sheep, 12 head of cattle, 6 pigs, and 1 crate of poultry, all to the Pacific Isles; from Lyttelton, 11 sheep and 2 head of cattle to Australia, and 33 sheep to South America; from Dunedin, 8 sheep and 2 head of cattle to South America, and 2 head of cattle to Australia.

Stock in Quarantine—The only imported stock, bes : dos 12 dogs and 13 pups, received into quarantine during the month of October -was 1 Ayreshire bull, imported for D. Buchanan, Palmerston North.

The total number of bales of hemp graded in October was 6,033 as compared with 13,447 f° r the corresponding month of last year, a decrease of 7,414 bales. For the twelve months end ng 31st October, 1914, the number of bales graded was 113,710 as compared with 162,973 for the previous twelve months, a decrease of 49,263 bales.