COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1747, 12 May 1913, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHARES. The EJilcs rccordcd on Saturday wove: TTnion Bank at .€59 155.: Union tjtca.ni (new). 435. and 435. 3d.; (old). 44-.; Wellington Woollen, ordinary, 725. The quotations were us under:— Htiycns. Seller.". •£ s. d. X n. d. National Bank (old) ..... — 5 0 0 N.Z. Lean and Mercantile 0 10 4 — Well. Trust and Loan 7 10 — Christehurch Ga«s 7 7 0 — Felklins (las? — 10 0 Gisborne Gas 230 Well. Gas (£10) 15 17 6 16 2 6 Well (Us (pref.) 1 0 3 10 8 X.H. Insurance 5 0 0 — ,5.13. Insurance 3 IS 6 — Gear Meat. (£4) 12 5 0 ■ (tear Meat (£1) 3 2 6 - N.Z. Shipping 15 7 6 15 15 0 Union Steam (new) 2 3 0 — Union Sttam (old) 2 3 9 — Mo3gicl Woollen — 312 0 Wostport Coal 17 0 17 9 Tariugarautu Totara — 2 5 0 Golden Bay Cement — 10 3 .MMining and Co 3 19 3 — Vv'.ard <uul Co 4 19 0 — ChriHtehiirch Tram Debentures (.uj- per cent.) — 92 10 0

i.ondon moxi;y MABKET. Thcro docs not appear to tho any immediate prospect of! cheaper monoy. Bates are high, and are likely to continue eo. When the Bank of Enjrlandj discount rate was reduced by 10s. per cent, a week or two ago, there was a probability that a, further reduction would, follow as .soon ao tho Balkan trouble v;as settled, bat there is not. much hope of that now. The Bank ha.* lost, during the week £427.CC0 in gold, and it is not unlikely that there will be further withdrawals. There aopears, to be some monetary disturbance in Germany, for tho open, market discount rate in Berlin lias jumped from .C 4 to .€5 2s. Cd. per cent, during the week. Tho financial position of Germany is causing some concern. The leading Berlin financial weekly, "Plutus," in criticising the Imperial Govermiu-.nt, for announcing its special war levy in :t. period of strinticiu'y, remarked that from whatever political or national standpoint the matter mny be viewed, it must nevertheless ho admitted that (lie announcement Irid the effVct of further frightening away the capital 5-.avi.ugs that had been already suiliciently alarmed by the events of the past few months; for. unite apart from the feeling of n new personal sacrifi-c heiiitr required, the idea- of a renewed <«v:'i<ms danger of war eould not f;>U to min ground. So that, so far :i> the nta'rkc:. stringency could be aiicentu-Ued by :i;u cxtern:"'l (ana 1 , it was hi increased by that {immurement of the Government's. It. may also be taken for uruutcd that the iullnx of money from abroad, under the itiiltii'me of the extraordinarily hi::h ratos, has been undoubtedly checked by the same un-nouiH-emeiH. l-'urthermorc, of hoarded savings being attracted to tb.-; liauK-i, additional sums ha\e bevn withdvaw.a, aliliough not to siu-h a ten.'.ai.ional extent as at an eariii r dute. SHIPPIMG L()jr:iKS. Tiie usua.l quarterly return of vessels lost, condemned, etc., Ims ju'.t bien issued, by Lloyd's Kegister of UritMi and Foreign Shippiu, l ;, and royei-v the m-riod from September oO to Heccml-'tr ot, 1912. It appears that during tho-;e uionih» a. tot;>! of l'! 2 ve—"els, en'iiprising a tonnage of IvV'.'luli tons, wen; last trom various cau.-e<. Of- this nundier .;6. with a combined tonna> r o of 55,1 v*) ion-, were t'roni tin: Pnitcd Kingdom, ami eight, with a. tonnage of tons were coloniai ve.— els. Of i!i: k total Prilish losses, one ve>-el of 21;.-.) ton.: ;tbain'.sjic.) at sea. one ol lid tons was burnt, nine of a combined tonnage of (»9,J ton- were lu.-t in collision, eig!:;- wild ji. total tonnage of 84tO ton., loundvi-ed. one of 2-11 t':ns i-i reported mi-sinc. and 'Jt having a combined tonnage of ton-, wei'e wM'dved. As regards tiie number i.f ve-j-cls 101 l during tile ouaiier, Sw-'<!; a of-enpi-".- t lie j eeoiid jdiice \v.iih a tola! of 18. but the aggregate tonnage of ilu'-e vev-eU only aniounied to some Ti'CO toa-. wbeir:» : Frame, "ill) o be:, ul' r„»ly ricbt , ships, thowa u tonnage lysn of 14,01*0 ton*-

Norway and Ifussia show respective losses of 13 Mitel 10 vp-sol?. and 11,100 and 29C0 while Vrtited States shipping fciiilorctl to tlio extent of 12 vessels and 9o(:C tons. I'AHAFFIX WAX. A certain amount of interest attaches at pro-en!' to the market for pa ratlin wax. as in opinion of t-ome an advance in pricey H long overdue. For this reason, the annual staiUties as to the American exports are interesting, as America, is not only tiie world's largest produc-vr, but by far and away the L'rge.-t. exporter. At one lime the been roianet it ion in this produe: from the tttandaid Oil Company was mailer of vital importance to the Scottish minm! oil companies, and it was largely owing lo the imitnal agm-ment. arrived at with thrai that the securing <>C anything like an adequate margin ol protit became possible. The recent. break in tlio pri«:e wa-j attributable l-o the million of new competitop from (ialiciau producers;, the Standard Oil Company being as ke;'U as any upon t.Ue maintenance of tho price of wax at <i. remunerative level. Tlio ship* incuts of wax from the United States norta during 1912 an? returned at 2 f j4,5y(1,Ui01b.. iieiag an inrrat'-e of 1W.572.0t<i1h. over tlio preccdiir: vcr. and <if 9'<,67?,(;C01h. a-; com* pared with 1910. An intcre.-ling aspect of figurea i<s fhe iinportanco they show the United Kingdom to have for the American expoller, a- thin country year by yesir absorbs little short of 60 per cent, of the total available for foreign markets. Last year if took 135£(0,0001b.. as compared with 92,0(. , 0.M01b. in the preceding year, and in 1910. July ranks next in importance, having absorbed 28i millioui lb., a»s compared with 18.346,C00ib. in tho preceding year. Germany lias also now become an important customer, taking 164 million lb. in 1912, as compared with ,something short, of ll.OOO.tlQlb. in 1911, and 62 million lb. in 1910. ATIiTIi EXPORTS. The values nf the principal products exported in April, compared with the figures for tho corresponding month of last year, fchow as under:—• April. 1913. April, 1912. £ £ Nutlor 112.343 129,153 Cheesje 261,327 £32,<595 Uecf 33,209 33,970 Mutton— Carcasses 194,802 177,699 Leers and pieces ... 5,220 6,913 Lamb 423,692 246,172 V.'lioat 65 42 Oals 1,150 30,653 Potatoes 695 936 Hemp 87,126 11,979 Tow 12,22 a 2,435 Kauri gum 39.097 31,008 Grain and puiso ... 13/90 20,525 Hops iby 242 JlidoH- 9.978 Skins 64,04,6<X) Tallow 69.535 62.328 Timber 22,915 45,813 Wool ! 92 ( J,756 751,115 Gold 73,976 140,552 2,362.445 1,999,608 For the twelve months ended April 30 the exports were valued at X 21.491.324, as against £18,145,347 for the previous year. CUSTOMS. . Customs duties collected at tho port ol Wellington on Saturday totalled £965 Is. ICd., tho amount for the week being £17,123 Is. 3d. The returns for each of tho past eight weeks, compared with thb figures for the corresponding period of tho previous year, show as under:— 1913. 1912. £ £ March 22 18.610 9,283 March 29 19.126 25.256 April 5 16.402 18.597 April 12 14,421 10.9'/i April 19 14,297 22,803 April 26 16,050 , 12,150 May 3 15.172 16,093 May 10 17,123 10,339 131,201 .325,492 The beer duty collected for tins pa?! week totalled £275 6s. 3d., as against £228 for the corresponding week of last- year. FEILDING PKODUCE MAIIKET. Messrs. A. 31. Atkinson and Co., Ltd.. Feilding, report that at their sale on Friday, vegetables and fruit sold readily at good price.). Good oatensheap chatf is Arming in vaiue. They quote:—Ryegrass seed, Us. per sack:'damaged peas, 2s. 6d. per bushel; tares, 45.; pressed hay. 4s. per bale; prime ehalf. £4 7s. 6d. per ton and 4s. per sack; maize. 6s. per bushel: wheat, 4s. 6d.; oats, 3s. 4d. to .3s< 6d.; nig potatoes, 3d. per sack; table, 9s. to lis.; appkv, 3s. to 4s. per halt-case; cauilirowers, 2d. lo 3d.; piomolons, 6d.; onions, 10s. to 12s. per cwt.; pickling, IJrt.j swedes and carrots, 3d. per .small sack;,oranges. Ss. per case; beet, Cd. to 9d.

SOUTH CANTERBURY PRODUCE MARKKT. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Oamaru, May 11. Tho business recorded during the week has been the smallc-st for many weeks past. This is partly due to the wet weather, and partly to the want of markets. For velvet wheat, 4s. Id. was irivcn for small lots. Cut pales have been made at less money, 4s. o\d. being: the general figure, ami for tuscan, 3s. 7id. net at country stations, lied chaff is scarce, and holds its own at 3s. M.;'solid straw at 3s. 6d. and 3s. 6ld. net, less commission. There are not many buyers for oaU. and few are being offered. The net prices paid at country stations have been 2s. 2*d. and 2s. 3d. for "A" Grade, and 2s. l"id. and 2s. 2d. for "B" Grade. From Is. 10* d. to Is. lid. has been paid for Algerians net at country stations. There is a slight demand for oaten-hcaf chaff at from, £3 ss. to £3 10s. net at country stations. The potato market is still lifeless, and values are weaker. The ruling fifjurc is £<3 on trucks. Growers are firm, and do :iot care to Quit at the Canterbury price.

FROZEN MEAT. | By Telegraph—Prcas Association—Oopyrlglit | (Ttcc- May 11, 5.10 p.m.) * ' ' London, May 10. The Incorporated Society of Aleut Importers' StnithJield market quotations lor tl.o undermentioned claeces of frozuii meat ac based on actual salus of not Iciß than c;io hundred c&rcaGscs of mutton or lamb, cr twenty-five quarters of beef of fair averago quality. Tho quotations are not for telocted lilies, but for parcels fairly representative of tho bulk of the shipments now on tlio market. The prices which follow iiro on the average a farthing per lb. more thau the valuc.l ex ship, this difference representing the averago cost in expense, handling, convcynuce, and selling tho meat:— May 3. May 10. Mutton— d. d. Canterbury, liyht H 43 Canterbury,medium 4 3-8 4 3-8 ' Canterbury, heavy 4£ 41-16 Southland * ' North Island, best 4! 4 3-16 North Island, ordinary... 41-16 4 Australian, light II 313-16 Australian, heavy * lti\er Plate, light * * Piver Plate, heavy 513-16 313-16 Now Zealand owed 313-16 311-16 Australian owe* 311-16 3'i Jtiver Plate ewes • 3£ — Lcmb— Canterbury, light 7 7 ' Oaniterburw medium ... 65 61 Canterbury, heavy * ■ 65-16 Southland * * North' Ma-nd, ordinary ... 6ri 6ft North Island, selected' ... 63 62 Australian, best 6 6& Australian, fair hi 6 Australian, inferior * 52 iiiver Plato, first ■ 6 6 Pivor Plate, second 5£ BeefNew Zealand, ox fores ... 3} 3 New Zealand, ox hyids ... 32 3ft Australian, ox fores 31 2* Australian. ox hinds 3J 3i Kive.r Plate, frozen fores 3?, 3 Piver Plate, frozen hinds 35 Kivcr Plate, chilled fore.* 3J 23 Piver lMnte, chilled hinds 4:} 42 j 'None offering. Owing to heavy arrivals, chilled fores 1 fluctuated during the week between 2id. and od., and chilled hinds between 3id. and sd. I Pnbhit«.~Tho market is weak, and tbero is lii.tto business doing. New South Wales blues are nominally at lfe.. young 12-. 6d. Miiny reeoat arrivals were, found to bo conmouldy. KATJIiI GUM. London, May 9. , At the kauri gum sales <2 packages j were oiferod, but withdrawn. WINTMK WHEAT CROP. Washington, Mny 9. ! Tho Agricull ural Hur' v an estimates tlie winter wheat crop at 513.571.GC9 bushi'ls.