COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1188, 25 July 1911, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHAKES. A salo of New Zealand and liiver Plate Land Mortgage shares at 4Cs. and Taranalil Petroleums at 16:;. Dd. wei'3 the only transactions in investment shares recordod yesterday. The buying and selling quotations were as under:—

CHINA'S SHIPPING PJIOGRESB. Although credited with the invention of the mariner's compass, China has hitherto been one of the most backward of maritime countries, but signs of more activity arc not lacking. Xaturally enough, theso efforts arc not altogether welcomed oy some of the steamship lines trading in the Far East, and the North German Lloyd in particular is beginning to feel their effect. When tho Germans began to develop Tsing Tau, in Shantung, after tho Boxer troubleE, they entered the coaeting trade as a matter of course, but they monopolised the business to such an extent that freights were advanced and complaints of unfair treatment began to circulate. A ChinoSiainesc concern was then promoted, wita the result that the North German Lloyd is gradually being squeezed out of the business. The Chinese Board of Posts and Communications propose to form a largo shipping company for the maintenance of a regular service on the rivers and on tne eoast of China, as well as to run steamcra to Singapore, Java, Australia, San Francisco, and Bombay. The report, however, that a, Chinese line is about to run to Europe is not generally credited, as tho capital of two millions sterling which has been mentioned in connection with it is considered much too small for practical purposes. All the same, there is abundant evidence that tho examplo set by Japan is being followed.

GOLD FEOM FKANCE. Towards the end of May the French Exchange on London rose to 25.321 and immediately thereafter there was a shipment of gold from Franco. The amount is variously (Hated at £575,000 and £750,CG0, the smaller amount being actually received by the Bank of England. Gold is rarely received from Francj except when the Bank of France allows it to come in order to prevent high discount rates in London from being further raised. The origin of the shipment referred to was somewhat unusual. Throughout the year the French Exchange has been at a high figure, the result- of the unsatisfactory economic conditions of the country through bad harvests, but the recent export of gold from Paris was duo, it is understood, to an undertaking on the part of the Bank of Franco to guarantee that the exchange would not be above 25.30 when certain grain contracts were carried out. These related to the import into France of a. considerable amount of foodstuffs rendered necessary by the shortage in the countrv, and the Bank of France, taking the viewthat the matter was .a national affair, gavo the promise mentioned. In order to redeem it, it was necessary to ship gold to London on a largo scale, and the operation had the desired elfect of depressing the- exchange to below 25.30. TEE PAST TEA SEASON. A very significant feature of the tea season 1910-11, which ended with May last, was the increased consumption in countries outside the United Kingdom, and notably in Kussia, where the greater purchasing power consentient upon prolific harvests has i:?d to n substantially expanded demand. lu a review of the season, Messrs. W. J. and It. Thompson, of London, stato that the quantity of British-grown tea taken outside the United Kingdom durint: the twelve months exceeded that similarly diverted in the preceding season by 16,CCO,fC01b. The bulk of this was bought locally, and India, despite an increase of 6.5C0,0C01b. in tota.l exports, sent to London, nearly D.CCO.KOIb. less. Australasia is coupled with Russia in the responsibility for a shortage in the supplies available for the United Kingdom, with a consequent upward trend in values, especially for : common and low medium sorts, which early this year reached a level not previously touched for many seasons. The output in Ceylon was 1E!.5C0,C0011>.. or a reduction of 10 per cent, on the yield in 19C9-IC-.T, falling-oil which was attributed nrincipally to adverse climatic conditions, although the intcrplanting of rubber in supposed to have been to some extent a contributing factor. There was an expansion in the quantity of China- teas used in Great Britain, but this is believed to have been due to the high rates asked for common descriptions from India and Cc.v----!on. Java fa'i dirt not show the increase T-n output that had been expected, tlio takings by London reprc-senting about 750X00 11). in excess of the importations in the immediately preceding season. The labour question, Messrs. Thompson add, is yearly becoming one of the most imnortant problems to be faced in all producing countries, and, with the competition created by the requirements of rubber plantations, considerable expansion in the area, under tea is made difficult.

NOTES. An analysis of the accounts of 67 Calcutta tea-Browing companies for tho past year shows that their combined capital in shares and debentures was £1,441,760. their cultivated area 57.325. acres, and ouiput of tea 24.635,3441b. Their combined net' profit was £202,367, ar.d tho dividends on the shares averaged 18 per cent. Not one of them worked at a loss. Tho men of the Royal Navy are, by tho rulefl of the service, compelled to pos.=esa as an item of full-dress equipment, black silk squares, aud both tho War Office and tho India Office now stipulate that silks supplied to them shall be the products of British looms. Silk yarns usjd in the mr.nufacturo of cartridges at Woolwich for the War Office and Admiralty are now produced iu England to a, creator extent than formerly, and the Army Clothing Factory at Pimlica lias for somo time past shown a more decided preference than formerly for English sowinc silks. Lee!;, the centre of this branch of tho silk trade, is more prosperous than other Enßlish silk towns, and it cannot bo said of It that it onco had a larger population than it has to-day.

Tlio order-book of tho United States Steel Corporation has come to be a recognised measure of the activity in American trade. At the end cf 1906 the corporation had no fewer than 8,469,719 tons of unfilled orders oji hand, but in December. 1907, tho figuro had dropped to 4,624,552 tons as the result of the crisis, and in December, 1508, to 3,603,527 torn. There was improvement in 19j9, when the total ran up to 5.927,031 tons, but it went back greatly ir. 1910, a-s at tho close of last year there were only 2,674.757 torn on order, the lowest figure for many years. To April 30 the total unfilled increased to 3.218,704 tons, but it was still very low, aud inactivity was still very prominent.

The London Stock Exchange is a ldnd of co-partnership, holding the premises and leaseholds in which members meet.. Tho nroprictor3 nowadays must be members, but all members are not proprietor?. As a property-owner the institution derives a, larso income from rents, as well as from other sources. Total receipts for the year 1910 were £.337,211, and expenses £123,379, while the total available for distribution was £424,259. The dividend for the year on shares was £9, absorbisc £120.CC0. A bonus of £2 per share was also paid, but to meet a call of £1 per share, to provide capital for the new buildings, the aetual bonus distributed was only £1 per share. Tho register of the London Stock Exchange numbers 20,000,fdiare5. which arc now paid up to £13 each. A debenture debt of £413,600 exists. .Seeing that the value of tho property of the institution has expanded by £819,000 in the last, thirty years, such a. debt is a. trifle. The prosperous state of tho Exchange will be realised when it is understood that tho call of £1 is the first made for over twenty years. Customs duties collected at the port, of Wellington yesterday amounted to £BC3 log. 3(1. FPiOZEX MEAT. The London quotations for North Island frozen meat on Saturday last, compared with those of a year ago, show as under:— July, 1911. July, 1910. d d. Mutton, best 311-16 3 7-16 Mutton, ordinary 37-16 3il Lamb, selected 413-16 48 Lamb, ordinary 43 4j| N. 7.. ox fores .'. 21 2* If.Z. ox hinds 3J 3J North Island mutton and lamh are both higher than they were a year aRO, but the quotations for beef aro not quite so satisfactory. Ox fores are a farthing lower, and hindquarters are unchanged. HIGH COMJILSSIONEirS CABLE. The Commerce aud Tourists Division of the Department, of Agriculture. Commerce and Tourists has received the following cablegram from the High Commissioner for New Zealand, dated London, July V.. (Note.—Quotations. u:ilc,=? otherwise specified, are averaga mar is ft prices on L-pol.):— Mutton-Trade for all classes lias be-n very slow, and price:! arc barely maiutaiued. Canterbury 33d., North. Island 3>d., . Kiver Plate 3Jd\ per lh-

Lamb—The market is weak, and fl:»ro i* less demand. Canterbury 5d., other than Canterbury 43d. per lb.; Plate, 4M. !!ecf.—The market i« riii'.l. The weather lately has bow. unfavourable to the sale of beef. N.Z. hinds 31d., fores 2UI. per 10. flutter.—The market is very firm. There is considerable speculation as thewwea n tiler is too dry. Choicest New Zealand !' butter, per cwt.. l!"s.; Australian, ICBs.; .',' Danish, 1215.: .Siberian, 107s. per cwt. " Chee.-o.—The market is firm. There is a i\ good demand. Coloured 61=., white 60s. '•• per cwt. " Hemp.—The market is dull. Auction sales this week closed with a weak demand. No transactions of importance. New Zca- ~, land, good fair, on spot, per ton, £21; fair grade. £19 !os.: fair current Manila, £20 10s.; forward shipment, about the same. The output for the weok from Jlauila was a 10,000 bales. Wheat.—There is a limited demand for better grades. New Zealand long-berried H wiicat. ex granary, per uuarler of 49610., B 355. 6d.; short-berried. 355. C Oats.—The market is firmer. The sup- K ply falls short of the demand. New Zea- 3' land oats, short Sparrowbills. ex granary, J* per quarter of 3841b., 2ts.; Danish, per N quarter of 3201h„ 17s. 6d. S -Beans.—Tho market is rather quiet. Now T Zealand beans, f.a.n. (old crop), per 5041b., 1 345. V Peas—The market is dull, and there is V very little business doins. New Zealand A' peas (partridge!, per 5041b., 595. I! Wool.—The market remains firm. V A FALL IN FLOUR. By Tclcsrarh-!'rMSJ As'ociii.ioa-Ooßyrlßhl (Rec. July 25, 0.50 a.m.) j Sydney, July 24. s Flour has declined ten shillings. City k brands are now quoted at £8. r t LONDON PRODUCE MARKETS. y London, July 23. ° Wheat.—Six thousand five hundred quar- ° ters, July shipment, have be:n sold *ct J 335. 3d. per quarter. Two cargoes have f been sold at 335. «d.; a third at 335. 6d.; ,; and a fourth at 335. r Hemp—lnactive. June-August shipment, a £21 per ton. t Jute.—Native first marks, August ship- f ment, £20 10s. per ton. i Cotton.—July-August, 6.95Jd. per lb. l Rubber—4s. 7>d. per lb. * Copra-.—Flat; South Sea, in email sun- " ply, £24 ss. r Rabbits—Quiet, prices unchanged. ° I METAL MARKETS. r London, July 23. Coppcr.-On the spot. £56 15s. per ton: ' three months', £57 12s. 6d.; electrolytic, £58 , 12s. 6d. ; Tin.-On the spot, £121 per ton (?); three ; months, £184. ' Lead.-£l3 12s. 6d. per ton. I . Silver.—Z4Jd. per ounce. . IThc spot quotation for tin is obviously ; wrong; instead of £121. tho quotation is , more likely to be £191.1 J: I WHEAT AND FLOUR. *' i London, July 23. , The wheat and flour afloat for the Unit- t cd Kingdom totals 3,050,000 quarters; and t for the Continent 1,685,000 quarters; Atlan- - tic shipments, 152.C00. . < The total shipments to Europe during , the week amounted to 1,110,000 ouartcrs, ( including 120,000 from Argentina," 260.CC0 ( from Russia, 40,000 from Danubian dis- t tricU. 312.000 from India, and 125,000 from i Australasia. j ■ e LONDON WOOL SALES. ■ 1 London, July 23. 5 A miscellaneous selection was offered at 3 the wool sales. Trices were unchanged. \ To date 110,863 bales have been offered, and 93,108 bales sold. ! Following are tl'.e prices realised for tho J fleece portion of the clips named:—Titi- | rangi, top price 1, average 9£d.; Pare, lid. and 9jjd.; Mount White, 24d. and 22>d ; ' Mondip Hills, 13d. and 123 d.; Hauiti, 13d. , and 113 d.; Turu, lOd. and 93d.; Ohuka, 23d. j and 21Jd. STOCK EXCHANGE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.! ! Auckland, July 24. Tho following business was done at the 3.15 p.m. call to-day:— May Oueeii, 2s. 3d. New Sylvia, 3s. 9d. Saxon. 2s. 7d. Waihi, £3 2s. 9d. Waihi Grand Junction, £1 7s. New Magnet, 3d. Waiotahi, 3s. Id. Wfiitangi Consolidated, 3s. 3d. Northern Steamship (p.u.), 15s. 9d. Auckland Tramways (pref.), £1 ss. 9d.

• Buyers. Sellers. £ 3. il. £ s. d Union Bank 67 0 0 - National J[ortp:ae;e 3 8 6 — N.Z. Loan anil .Mercantile- 0 17 0 0 18 0 N.Z. and River Plato 2 0 0 - Wellington Investment... 0 11 9 — Well. Trust and Loan ... - 7 11 0 Christehureh Gas 9 17 6 - Foilcline Gas — 12 6 Well. Gas (£10) 19 0 0 - Well. Gas (£7 10s.) 15 5 0 - S.U. Insurance — 316 0 Meat Kiport (52s. 6d.) 5 5 0 - Well. Woollen (orrt.) - 10 6 Well. Woollen (prcf) - 3 16 Wcstnort Coal 19 3 19 9 Leyl-anil-O'Brien 18 3 — New Zealand Drus 2 9 3 - N.K. Paper Mills - 119 Sliarland's ordinary 14 0 — Taranaki l'ctrolcnm 0 16 6 — Taringamutu Totara 2 6 0 2 8 0