COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1377, 1 March 1912, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHARES. Ther3 were no transactions in investment shares yesterday. The buying and selling quotations- were as under:— Uuyers. Sellers. £ 3. d. £ s. d. National Bank 5 14 6 - N.Z. Loan and Mercantile — 018 0 near Jteat (£4) — 13 0 0 Meat Export (525. 6d.) ... 2 18 0 — Union Steam 119 9 - Kaiapoi Woollen 5 10 0 — llikiirnngi Coal 0 18 6 - Leyland-O'Rri.-.'n 19 0 - Taritißiimutii Totara 2 6 0 2 8 0 C. il. Banks, Ltd - 10 0 Crown Jtrcwery : . — 2 10 fSoldi'ii May Cement — 14 9 N.'/I. Con. Dental - 1 i 0 W««l and Co - 5 4 3 The ciiur.ie of sale's during the past month wan as under:--National Hunk, £5 155., £5 155., £5 155., £5 15*. Milnk New South Wales, £46. N.Z. and Sliver T'liti-. 40s. 6d. Wellington Trust and Loan, £7 lte. .Smith Ilrilieh Insurance. £■! 14s. Wellington fins (preference 73. 6d.), 83., Erf.. Bs. Union Steam, Ms. fill. We.itport Coal, 27f. 3d. Lc.vland-O'lirien, 295. 3d. Taringamutu Totara, 455. Golden Hay Cement. 245.. 24«. 3d., 245. 6d., 24.=. 6d., 245.'6 d., 21s. 6d.. 245. 6d. Manning and Co.. £4 10s. Saarland's preference, 245. 6d.

WHKAT. The American visible supply of wheat is 110,675,000 bushels. CUSTOMS. The Customs revenue collected at Wellington yesterday totalled £2272 12s. lOd., and the revenue for the pa#t month to £72,74110 a. sd. The receipts for Jnnuary , and Februajy, compared with the h'auros tor

the corraponding months of last year, were a3 under:— 1912. 1911. £ £ January '~... 84,460 70,809 February 72,741' 68,223 157,201 139,032 The beer duty for February amounted to £113,1 os. 9(1., as against £1072 18s. Bd. for tho month of February last year. BUTTER EXPORTS. (Br Telesraph.—Special Correspondent.! Auckland, February 29. Providence has smiled benignant!)' upon the dairy farmer in tlic Auckland Province this season. Favourable weather condition? and high prices have made him wax prosperous. The rain that has fallen during the past week came just nt (he right time as the pastiue was toximiing to feel the need of moisture. This Edison is sues to be a record one for the Int'.u-r yield, the increase of exports over last season being already over 13 p'.r cent.. w;th a prospect of the increase licing at J?ast 20 per cent, by the end of 'be m.<.isoii. During tho past two or tares months the fortnightly shipments of butter have shown gratifying increases over the corresponding periods of last season, and there fc.'jms every prospect of merchants not being able to fulfil increased contracts abroad, but that sufficient butter will also be stored to meet local requirements, s-o that it is anticipated that prices locally will not reach the high figures tnas wore prevalent here last season, owing to the shortage of supplies. The butter e-.iming forward for export from tho province f< r the past fortnight totals 17,000 boxes, equal to 850Qc\Yt., as against 9345 boxes, equal to 4672}cwt., for the corresponding period of lust season The export of bsilter fo>the present season now reaches a total of-255,744 boxes, equal to 127,837c>vt.. as against 224,701 boxes, eqiiol to U2,iMJir.rt., for ths corresponding [period of isist season. This represents an incra.ise i of 133 per cent, for th« present season. I'm' this reason there lias been an in£i'-M&3 of SD.-8 boxes in the amount of .butter Fent to 'he Lmdon market, an increase n' 17,891 biucs sent to the Vancouver market, nnd nn increase of 8084 boxes sent to the West of England.

LONDON MARKETS. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, have received the following cablegram from their London honm, under date February 28:— Wheat v We have sold an Australian parcel 'at 375. 3d. c.i.f. The market is firm, hut inactive owing to light arrivals, and the outlook is uncertain. We quote, per quarter c.i.f.:—New Zealand long-berried, 355. 9d.; Ehort-borricd, 355. 3d.

AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE MARKETS. Bj Talecraph-l'rem Aesoc'-itlnn-Cnsyriehl (Rec. February 29, 10.40 p.m.) ' Sydney, February 29. Wheftt. 3s. 71d. to 3s 73d Flour. £8 155. Oats, Algerian. 3s. 6d. Bailey, Cane. 4s. lod. to 55.; English malting, 4s. 6d. to ss. Maize, 4s. 4d. to 4s. Sd. Bran, £5 10s. Pollard, £5 15s. Potatoes. £6 10s. to £8. Onions, £8. Butter, selected brands, 120s • prime, 108s. to 116s. Cheese, Bid. Bacon, fid. Adelaide, February 29. Wheat, 3s. 6Jd. to 3s. BJd. Flour, to £8 15s. Bran and pollard, Is. Zd. to Is,. 2Jd. Oats, 2s. lid. to 3s. MELBOURNE HIDES MARKET.. (Rcc. February 29, 10.40 p.m.) Melbourne, February 29. Hides ware in light supplies at to-days sale. Kips were easy, but other kinds were firm. SILVER London, February 28. Bar silver ie quoted at 27Jd. per ounce standard. LONDON WOOL SALES. For the March sales, which begin on Tuesday next, there will be available ■192,000 bales, and, comparing the statistics with those for the corresponding sale of last year, the figures are asunder:— March, 1912. March, 1911. Bales. Bales. New arrivals .'. 406,000 477,000 Sent direct 223,000 261,500 fllft.OOO 215,500 Brought forward.? 18,000 17.CC0 192,000 232.J00 Thus a smaller quantity will b.3 offered than at the "March salesof last year, but the prospects are not so bright, mainly because of the- industrial disturbance. The quotations for Bradford tops are also slightly easier, and this is disclosed in the following:— March. 1912. March, 1911. Tops- d ''• Forties |« \]\ Forty-sis:* M ■ «i . Fifties 173 18* Fifty-sixes 21 212 Common 60's 24 24j Super 60's 245 25} \ All counts are lower, but particularly the higher ones, which nffeet fine wools. In view of the trouble in the coal trade, and the fact that the majority of th.i industries of Great Britain must be affected, it is dinicult to see how wool is to show any improvement. It will be very satisfactory indeed if the closing rates of tho lost series are maintained. The following, taken from Messrs. Helmuth, Schwartze, and Co.'s wool review. Rives the imports into Europe and America for-the years enumerated, together with the yearly total value during the last ten year's of the colonial supply, based upon a fairly trustworthy average value per bale:Australa- Total* Avg. val. Total Year. sian. colonial. hales. bales, per bale, value. 1902 ... 1,699,000 1.953.C00 £113 £22.713.000 1903 ... 1.451.0C0 1,685,000 £131 £22,747,000 1904 ... 1,371,001) 1,572,000 £144 £22,794,000 1905 1,633,000 1,e42.000 £153 £29.011,C00 19C6 ... 1,833,000 2,071,000 £17 £35,207,000 1907 .. 2,103,000 2,390,000 £16J £39,435,0C0 1938 ... 2.072.000 2.348.0C0 £131 £31,111,000 1909 ... 2,296,000 2,676,000 £15 £40,140,000 1910 ... 2,411,000 2,788,000 £161 £45,305,000 1911 ... 2,524,000 2,900,000 £15 £43,500,000 'Including Cape wools. The total value is about £2,000,000 below the preceding year, though it still reprcajnts an immense total. The average per bale—£ls—is nearly 8 percent, lower than in 1910. The average per bale based on the closing series we, estimate at £14 155., against £15 10s. in December, 1910, £13 10s. in December, 1908, £17 in October, 1907, £18 in May. 19C6, and £10 iu December, 1901. The average of the last ten years is about £14 155., or the same as at present, and tl» average of the last six years is even £15 10s. ANTWERP WOOL' SALES. ' By rcleirnnb-l'reiis Afi=nfiafion— Coajrrliril' (Rec. February 29, 11 p.m.) London, February 29. At the Antwerp wool sales 2664 baUs of La Plata wore offered, and . 1560 sold. There was a large attendance, and bidding was animated. The prices were fiv3 centimes per U). below those of the January sales.

WOOL SALE. (By Teleeraph—Press Association.) i Christohurch, February 29. The clearing-up wool sale of this season's series took place to-day, when 1709 bales were offered, mailing a total offering for the season of 46,877 balsa, as compared with 52,672 bales last season, and 54,005 bales in 1909-10. The smaller total this year docs not, however, mean so large a decrease as the Bjupss indicate as tho proportion of wool passed in and reoffered at subsequent sales was much smaller than during the past, two seasons. The offerings yesterday consisted of a few late shorn back-country clips and odd lots of passed in wool. There was a- fair attendance ot buyers, and good competition throughout, considering t'ie quality of the wool offered. Values were wall up to the level of those ruling at the previous sale, several lots of passed-in wool making a little more money, others not selling so well. The wool passed in consisted chiefly of the lots clips that had not previously been offered. The range of prices was as follows:—Medium and inferior merino, 7Jd. to 9Jd.: medium halfbred, 7Jd. to lid.; inferior, 7Jd. to 9d.; iridium Corriedalc, BJil. to 103 d.; medium and inferior thrce-quartcre, 6Jd. to 83d.; medium and inferior crossbred, 63d. to Bd.; lonjjwool, 6Jd. to 7d.; Down wool, 83d.; merino pieces. 6Sd. to BJd.; lialfhred pieo?.-, GJd. to 7d., one lot passed at 91d.; crosshreds, piece?, 5Sd- to 7d.; locks and crutching?, 4»d. to 6»d.