COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1112, 27 April 1911, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

investment shares. Yesterday business was done in New Zealand Loan and Mercantile shares at ' 1 41} estport Coal, at 295. In reference to the telegram from New Plymouth affirming, on the authority of the ™h"ir man and secretary of the Taranaki Petroleum Co.. that a transfer has been reRistCTod, on which the consideration niouev is 20s. per share, the Wellington Stock Exchange desires to have it made known that scleral of the members have recntlv been offering parcels of these shares in New Plymouth at 14=., but have not found buyers. Tiio buying and selling quotations were as under:— \ Buyers. Sellers. National Bank ! ~ S -' N.Z. Loan and Mercantile 0 10 9 0 11 6 N.Z. and Hirer . Plate... — 2 0 0 Well Trust and Loan... 715 0 717 6 Chnstchurch Gas 910 0 9 14 n Oisborne Gas 3 2 6 — Well. Gas (.£7l 14 0 0 _ South British Insurance... — 310 a Standard Insurance 19 0 — Meat Export (£5) — 610 n Meat Export (.£4) — 5 7 6 Meat Export (525. 6d.) — 3 7 0 N'.Z. Shipping 11 13 0 _ Union Steam — 2 1 fi Well. Woollen (ord.) — 4 2 0 Well. Woollen (pref.) 3 0 0 3 « 6 Westport Coal — 19 3 Leyland-O'Brien 16 6 17 0 Manning and Co 4 li 0 _ Jtiramar, Ltd 2 9 0 0 2 6 N.Z. Drug , 2 9 — Sharland's ordinary 14 0 — Sharland's prefercneo ... 1 4 0 — Taranaki Petroleum 0 12 6 0 14 3 Taringamutu Totara ... 2 8 6 210 0 Ward and Co 5 0 0 5 2 6 Wilson's Cement — 2 16 WHEAT IN WAR. The Corn Trade Association of Great Britain and Ireland are deeply concerned in the position which wheat- will occupy under the Declaration of London. Accordingly a denutation from these associations and from the National Association of Hrj. tish and Irish Millers waited upon Sir Edward Grey at the Foreign Office oa the subject. The interview, which was private, took tho form et 0, conference, which occupied about two hours. The deputation particularly directed their attention to obtaining from the Foreign Secretary an elucidation of some points of the Dc-cla-ration, and it was arranged at tin close that a letter should be addressed to him further dealing with the matter, in order that he ma.v forwerd such a reply as will, when published, clear up any doubts.

WELLINGTON DEPOSIT COMPANY. The report ci tho directors or the Wellington Deposit ilortLV.L'e and Agency Company for the year ended Starch 31 stated that the net profit cu the year's business is .E1357 175.. which, with the addition of *325 12-. 6d. brought forward from the previous year, makes a tDtal ot £1691 10s. 6d. The directors recommend that this amount should lie applied a« follows -.—The payment .of a dividend tor the year at, the rate of 5 nor cent, -jcr annum, which will absorb £1250. The balance, £«1 10s. 6d„ to be carried to next year's account. NOTES. Advices have been received from ths head ollice of the Norwich Union Life Insurance Society, showing that new business for tho year just closed, amounted to .£5,585,765, working out at 10,493 policies. This is over half a million • more than the business for the preceding year. Dr. Newman is chairman of the Now Zealand board of directors, and Mr. A. E. Kornot is attorney and general manager for the Dominion. Shipments of Chinese pork and produce to tho United Kingdom are now pretty regular. The quality is (rood, and so the trade may bo looked upon as fairly firmly established. The following is a summary of this produce in the manifest of a vessel lately arrived:—: —5141 carcasses frozen pigs, 9414 cases frozen produce, 150 cases crease, 28 cases yesetabje oil, 1098 cas~s lard, 321 cases rind. 173 hides. £1 packages merchandise. 200 toss salmon. The idea in provision circles in London is that bacon will be lower this year. Prices are already considerably lower than tlicy were a year ago. The falling rates are based upon tho assumption that the U.S.A. will go in for pork and pork produces in 1911, on an increased scale. Certainly there was nothing comforting to merchants, and importers in the statistics of imports. In 1910 the total imports of bacon into the United Kingdom were 3,f!63.389e\vt., against 4,625.C00cwt. and 5.686,COO in 19C9 and 19G8. IVc- imnort our bacon from Denmark, U.S.A.. and Canada, and all three suppliers have decreased of late years—America enormously. The imports of merchandise into Egypt in 1910 were valued at ,£24,142,000, showing an increase over 19-9 of £1,356,0C0, while tho exports of merchandise were £29,668,f.CO, with an increase of £2,940,000. The high price secured by Egyptian cotton, of which England imported £17,737X00 worth, in the main jeeouatod for tho gain in the exports. According to a consular report, last year was a very prosperous one for the diamond trade in Antwerp, generally speaking, though, as far as the export of diamonds is concerned, it may be considered only to have been a, good average year. For tho present Antwerp occupies the first place cn the Euronean Continent a.s a diamond market, and it also lead>i in the exportation of diamonds to the United States. The total importations of diamonds into the United States last year were £3,(63,166 in value, aE against £8,714,111 in 1909 and £2,805,526 in 1908, which was a year of great depression. The nolo issuer- of the Indian Government are steadily increasing. They amount at present to £35.700,000 {as compared with i£i9.tG3.CCO ten years ago), of which, roughly speaking, half are secured by silver, about a third by gold, and the remainder by Indian Government securities. The smallest, notes issued are for livo rupees (6s. Bd.). the next is ten rupees (I3s. 4:1.), and notes as high as ten thousand rupees (£665 13?. <d.), are issued. In the towns they naM freely from hand to hand, and as India becomes inoro commercial circulation of such notes, no doubt, will largely increase. These notC3 can be cashed at six centrcs in India. Tho output of petroleum in 1910 reached in the United States 204,000,CC0 barrets, or about 27,000,000 metric tons, against 24.58S,f'C0 tons in 1909. 23.971,000 ton-, in 1908. 22,091,CCD tojis in 1907, and 16,785,000 tons in 1906. The output in Russia in 19!0 was 659.600,000 poods, or 9.320,000 tons, againr,, 9,130,000 tons in 1909, the Baku district furnishing '178.0C0.0C0 poods, against 490,C0",CC0 in 1909, and the «ros*>y district 70,000.000 poods, against 57.0C0.0C0. Kumania produced in 1910 1,352,0C0 tons, against, 1,297,OCO in 1909, an increase of 4.8 per cent., valued at x1,9C9,CC0, against £2.335,000. The Rurar>.ian export o[ petroleum products was in 1910 581,C00 tons, valued at £1,f04 OCO, against 420,C00 tons, valued at £1,318,CC0. The making of rattan chairs has been an important industry in Hong-Kong for many years. There has also been lately a large development in the nso of what is called sea ?rass (Arundo mitis) and hemp string. The ordinary rattan ca:y and garden chairs arc used all over tho Far East, and aro exported to Australia, and latterly to South Africa, and "sea grass" and "liner, fibre" furniture is exported to India, Copenhagen, and America. The official trade accounts of the United Kingdom chow that tho exports of the produce and manufactures of tho United Kingdom to Canada in tho year 1696 (tho year before tho tariff preference on British itoods was introduced) were valued at £5.352,C03, in 1909. after two years of preference, at £15.688,000, and in 1910 at £19.633.000, or 268 per cent, more than in 1596. Tho official Canadian trade accounts show xhat ".of a. total sum of £19,6C0.CC0, the value of the imports for consumption into Canada- from the United Kingdom in the year ended March 31, 1910, goods to the value of £13,415.000, or 68 per cent, of tho whole, enjoyed til" advantages of the British preference. Two-thirds of the balance consisted of goods whiHi arc free of dutv on importation into Canada from whatever Eource derived.

Customs duties collected at tho port if Wellington yesterday amounted to £1625 18s. lid. BANK SHARES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright London, April 23. The Stock Exchange Quotations include: —Bank of Australasia. £117 (buyers), and £118 (sellers); Ur.ion Hank £62105. (buyers), and £63 10s. (sellers); National Bank of Australasia, £5 ss. (buyers), and £5 lfc. (sellers); National Bank of New Zealand, £5 15s. (buyers), and £6 (selbrs). METAL MARKETS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyrieht London, Anril 25. Conner— On the spot. £54 lis. 3d.; three months, £55 2s. 9d.; electrolytic. £56 10s. Tin—On the spot, £195 10s.; three months, £193 10s. LONDON MARKETS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyrieht (Rec. April 26. 10.10 p.m.) London, April 26. Consols, £81 2s. 6d. Wheat.—Two Australian cargoes sold at £1 14s. 3d. and £1 14s. Id. respectively. Lead, £13.