COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1993, 25 February 1914, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

BOTJTHEKN; MARKETS. (By Tclcgiviph.—Press Association.) ." ' - Chrlstchiirch,. February 24. _ la a fair ■ quantity of wheat and oats, oil' offer, and tho former is in good demand, but there is little inquiry for 'oats.' wheat is selling at from. 3a. Jd. to 3s.' 4d. for Tuscan, 3s. sd. for Hunters, 3s. 6d; for pearl, and 3s. 2d. for fowl wheat. Odd lines of pearl have brought a- littlo moro money where the quality a good, and tho ra'ilage 'short. There is- no onange in oats,", feed lines bringing from Is. 4d. to .Is. 6d„ according to variety and quality, • and jfobd Qarton6 up to Is. 7d. at country stations. ■ Barley is rather dull of sale, and only good conditioned malting 'samples are wanted. - • ' .. i 'For potatoes, £2 10s.. at country stations is offcrod.and a few sales are being made at thifl figure. Tho main crop of onions is now comiue forward more' freely, and the' price iJ raither casior,. £5 to £4 ss. being its ruling quotations at country stations. For oatshcaf chaff, £2 ss. at country stations is being paid. MAKCH WOOL SALES. 'Messrs.• Dalgoty and Company, Ltd., Wellington/have received cabled advice from their London office, under date Febru-.. ary 23, aa under;-"The list of arrivals has closed, and, they amount to 350,000 baleß. Of ths- quantity, of -216, CXX) bales have been ■forwftrded direct 'to manufacturers ,at .Home and abroad. There 1 , arc 71.CC0 bales brought' forward from old stocks, leavliiar 141,000 ■ bales availablo for sale." By Telegraph—Press London, February 23. The arrivals for.tho wool eales totalled .350,000 bales,, of. which 216,500 hales ■ have ■been . forwarded direct to manufacturing centres'. The amount available for tho sales will be 141,000' bales. • • ~» ••■- • -WHEAT. ~ • (Rcc. Februray 24, 10.35 p.m.l London, February 24. Wheat'- is: firm, and sellers arc . asking an additional ljd. to 3d. The demand is quiet. Australian cargoes have eold at ■363, 3d. and 365. _6d. ..SUGAB PEODUOTION. London, February 23. Herr F. 0. Lich, the well, known sugar expert of Magdeburg, in his monthly cir. cular, states, that .tho production of beet sugar in- Europe shows a decrease of 457,CC0 tons. lie estimates that for the campaign there will be e total surplus of 6000 tons. BAB SILVER. • London f February 23. Bar silver is quoted at' 26 7-16 d, per. ounce standard. ■-

! INVESTMENT SHARES. •; - There wero no transactions in investment shares yesterday. • The-auotations were as follow:— Buyers. Bellers. £ s. d. £ 5. d. Bank of New Zealand ... — • 12 .3 0 Bank N.Z. (rights): —. . srl5 r l 0' National Bank' ~ .'— .5 B'o Metropolitan Building ... — 12 6' 0 N.Z. «nd Kiver Plato ... 2 2 0 .■-'.— Well. Trust and Loan ... 7 5 6 7. 6 6 Veil. "Gas (£10) :. ' — 16 0-0 8.8. Insurance - — . 4' 7. 6 Union- Steam (ord.) •.: ."j — ' 1' 410 Union Steam (prof.) 10-2 — ' Well. Woollen lord.) 4 0 0 '• Wcstport-Stockton — 0.40 Kaurf Timber (335.) 1 17 0 - : . Tarlngamutu Totara ...... 2 5 6 — 0. M. Banks. Ltd '..■ 1 2 0 - - N.Z; Con. Dental — -l 2''3 Ward and Co 5 0 0 s'-2 6 W.F.O.A. (£U- ..:...■ 1-6..0 !"'■ UNION, BANK.. ,- • The report, of the Union Bank of Australia, for the half-year ended August S> last Bhows that.after provision for doubtful debts'and contingencies, it exhibit:! a not .amount of proQte of £197;427, inclusive of £44,002.brousht forward.. From .this-the dircotors have made tho following appropriations, viz. -.—£lß,ooo as provision lor interest on instalments of new capital; £30,CC0'as an addition to the bank's reserve fund, which -is thereby increased .from £1,500,CC0 to £1,530,000. From the balance...remaining (£149,427) the directors have resolved upon, tho declaration of a dividend at the rate of 10 per cent, ner annum, equal, to £1 ss. per share, and a ;bonua of. 2 per cent.,'equal •to 10s. per share, the dividend and bonus together being at'; the rate of 14 per cent, per ann'uni, , and' antountinß to £1 iSs. nor

• share,- absorbing £105,000, and leaving £44.427 to be carried forward. Since tho last, meeting, branches of the bank have been openc-d' at Gundatral in Now South Wales, Gayndah in Queensland, and Matata jii New Zealand. The inm© of new capital haa been fully subscribed, and at August 30 last the.-sum of £461,090 had been'-re-ceived. Interest on instalments was to have been paid on January 31.' • fTHB HIPEBATOB. :.. According to the "Financial Times"; the mammoth Hamburg-American liner Imperator: does not appear eo far to have been a* very .great, commercial success, for the;'difficulties incidental to her launching .were. followed . subsequently i by other minor misadventures which, nevertheless, , were a source of expense to thoso responeiblo for her .maintenance in -eca-golng condition,,, 'fho net rcault ia now to be •seen.;.in the; comunications which have' been,-published in Germany to the effect that it;'ls doubtful whother tho-Vulcan Works, .who built tho vessel, will pay a dividend this year.. Thoso familiar with shipbuilding contracts will realiso the full filffulllcanoa; 01. this, statement; . The task of constructing this vessel was a .more than difficult one, but the work of getting Iter, safely out to sea was even more hazardous, and in the end ■ appears to') hive' fun . away with whatever profit there may' have been originally. The moral is, of couree, that the dimensions of |such _ a vessel' as this'are in excess of the facilities which exist for her • accom;modatlon.- On tho broad ocean sho can doubtless be run. at a minimum' hitioVof working costs. When it comes' to ' harbour accommodation, hpwover, and tho navigation,of narrow waterways, the talo .is-an i Altogether different .qfio, and the ohiof 'benefit v of_jthe.. conatruo tioir'of "this" "leviathan wou]d~appear to bo to •' -wsnrJi shipbuilders. and shipowners against the risk and dangers attendant upon* ■ the . handling of such unwioldy structures. Shipbuilders may also, find it useful to bear ip mind that the contract for to laying down of the ImperatOr was accepted on terms ■ which, under tho most favoudblo circumstances, could oily hq.vo ■left a.v.ery small surplus, and the absento of a sufficient margin to allow for unexpected mishaps must .bo regarded as not the least of. the causes wjiich appear to have rendered the contract unremuneTOtive. ' • NOTES.- i The imports of Japan during 1913 rcach-' ed a value of 630,CCi),C<!0 yen, and the exports 729;0C0,C00 yen. Tho. excess .in. the; .'exports' of speoie amounted to '26.000.tf00 yen. : Bradford's exports to America lasVyear wefa valued, at £2,592,583, a decrease of. £474,178. Wool was lower by ovfer £700',CCO. Dress goods were higher by £70,000, cotton cloths increased by £20,C(X). worsted* coatings by £74,CC0, • and wo&llin elirthi 'fly £31,000. The, figures for December'showed an increase of £229,684 over tho previous" year, stuff , goods having been' higher by nearly £100,UiO, in anticipation of lower duties. ... A review of the-past'year reveals that, dcsplto contrary, conditions, a surprisingly large .number of important issues :took' place on tho French market, although wot as great as in 1912. The total nominal capital of tho -issues in 1913 amounted, 'to 4,831,000 t 0C0 francs, or approximately £193, : 240,000, as against . 5,5&),0C0,0C0 francs, or £223,560,W0, -'in 1912. ' Not .Quite • 50/ p£r ; cent. of this capital was invested in purely French undertakings, tho remainder going to foreign issues. . ■ " Discussing tho question of tho development .of. German shipbuilding and shipowing, a writer in tho,6p«clal number'of "Shipbuilding and Shipping Record" 'says that little importance need be attached' to tho fact that during tho paet 40 years-Ger-man's lle-gt of merchant vessels has more than trebled, and tho merchant fleet of :tho British 'Empire-..has' not doubled, .-since' Germany is now ten and a half, million tons behind üb, although she was only .six million tons loss in 1870. The writer thinks, however, that German shipyards are sufficiently well equipped to take advantage of any change of the economic conditions on the building of vessels of . a(l types, although probably not yet as cheaply as in Britain.

TRADE IN ALLEN STREET. ■... ■Vegetables.—Green peas and carrots -continue in strong demand, and. high rates are ruling." Pasnips, ■ cauHSowors, ;and Frenoh beans'are in steady supply, and .meet with fair demand. Fruit.—Pears and apples have been in largo -supply,. and low pricos have had to bo -accepted, but yesterday values exhibited a slight improvement. Plums axe in shorter 'supply; and prices have Advanced slightly. Nectarines and peaches are in fuil supply, and -realise moderate prices. Tomatoes --have eaesd considerably, owing to 'large consignments coming fcrfward.Messina 'lemons are in fair demand,.and slocks are being gradually worked off: The-market absolutely bare of oranges,' but supplies from the Islands aro expected in a few -days, when - consignments of bananas will also coma to hand. Last' week's shipment of pineapples'from'Sydney was in exce=s of requirements, conee- 1 quently low prices' ruled. A few New South .'Wales grape 9 arrived last week, and further supplies are due this week from. South Australia. ~ Onions.—Auckland oniono maintain tlie'r, values, but the pricos of Canterbury'-g'rowji havo declined, the current, -quotation • for these boing £7 10s. to £8 10s. per torn /pickling onions are wanted at Ud. to.'ljd. •per.lb. ■ Potatoes.—The market hasffirmerd r considerably,. the quotation, now being' £4 10s. to £5 10s. per ton for.good quality.;. 'Flour shows no change, and the price'ex store i,Wellington continues ■ at. £10 to £10 IDs., according to brand. ' Fowls' wheat has again declined, a.nd .is now quoted at 4a. 6d. to 431'8d. per bushel' for primo whole. Ifaizo .Is. exceedingly dull of Bale at -. 4s. 9d. to 4s. lOd. per bushel. Bran.—Jfeayy shipments havo been forwarded to-the United Kingdom, and the local 'quotation is now £4 ss. to £4 aOs. .per., ton.. ■ Pollard;— Heavy. shipments continue to .come..from Sydney and Melbourne. The' present .quotation is £6 10s. to £7 10s. per ton. ; Oatmeal has decided 10s- per ton,' tho quotations now being—in 251b. bags £12 per. ton, 2001b. sacks £11 10s., and 71b. bags- £13 iCe. ;. Rolled Oats.—Thißtle'brandi in 4ilb. bags, and Oreamoja, in 41b. bags, are soiling at 10s. per dozen bags. Ohaff.—A good demand exists for prime quality, oattasheaf chaff at £4 10s. to, £5 per toil,' e'x.elore; - Fresh Eggs.—Owing to heavy supplies, the prices have dropped, tho quotations now being le. 4d. to Is. sd. per dozen, with preserved at Is. 3d. Butter—A good demand exists for prima milled,- in bulk, at 95d. :to lOd. per lh.'i. good quality, Bd. to "a. .Poultry —Hens. 2s. fid. to 3s. 64.. per pair: cockerels, 3s. 6d. to 5».;' Indian irnnner ducks, to 45.; Aylesbury ducklings, ss. to' 65.; .turkey gobblers.-: Is, per lb., live weight; hens. lOd. to lid. . . -Prussian blue peas are-3low of sale :,at, ss. 64. per buehejv ' • ■ Brokon peas for poultry feeding are in pood demand at &. fid. to 3s. 9d.- per bushel