COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2962, 28 December 1916, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Customs duties collectod at the port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £1270 17b. Id. - - AMERICAN TIN PLATE INDUSTRY. As 'instancing th© remarkable growth in ■th© tinpLate Industry in the United States America, tho New York "Journal oi' 'Commerce"- of October &> gives some interesting figures. It states tlutf, "tho shipment to China of 2»550,000ib. oi tiuplatc in •one day at the beginning of October is an illustration of th© expansion in tho export trade. A compilation oi tho foreign tracie jdepartmont-.ot tho National City Bank of New York shows that the exports .of American tduplato have grown from 20,W/lb.

in 1838 to 616,257,4731b. in 1916, the vahio of the exports having been in 1898 962d01. and i in 1916 "18,704,000d01. Of- the 616,257,4731b. 1 exported in 1916. about 200,cc0,0c01b. -went to tha Orient. 100,000,0001b. : to' Latin America, 100,000,000 *to Canada, and the rejjnaindet chiefly to Europe. "The quantity now being produced in the United fltatea exceeds 2,000,000,00Q1b. per annum, against 1,063,000,0001b. in 15u4, and about 4.000,0001b. in 1891, tho year in "which the industry was established. The xalue Of v tho output in 1914 was about 65,000,000 dol., and that of the ourrent year will presumably oxceed 75,000,000d01. in value. Tho United States now produces about half the tinplate of; the world, -and consumes approximately half tho tin of the world. This large increase in tho American production has been aocompaniod by a corresponding in importation, the imports of 1691 .having been 1,036,489,0001b., valued at '35 > 746,920d01., and those of 1916 but 1,796,6551b., valued at 141,444d01. Meantime the exportation has grown from 20,2871b., valued at 962d01., in 1898, the first year for which there is a recoTd of export, to 514,557,f131b., valued at 18,704,000d01., in 1916, and- seems likely to approximate 25,000,000 aol. value in exports in the current year."

SHIPPING AMALGAMATIONS. The amalgamation of British shipping interests has been steadily developing during tho last year or bo, and the process is attracting no little commont. On tho one hand it is claimed tbat only by such organisation can British owners hope to compete with the combines and cartels of Germany. Other authorities are apprehenmvo as to tho effect upon tho Empire's trade, inasmuch as the elimination of bompetition may brins about £tn inflation Unfavourable to the trader. The results of the Plerpont Morgan ooinbine of >1901 are cited by some authorities as indicative of tho possibilities when shipping values return to the normal. On tho whole, however, the feeling is that, while the amalgamations may be selfish at lfeart, they "will- prove a much more pliable weapon than'tho isolated "one-ship" company In the eoonomic war which is promised af- • \

fmT the - term i»atioTi of military hostilities, .there is, moreover, another aspect, which is the possibility of the process having been not only condoned but encouraged by the British-Government, it being clear that in th© future Governments <u'e likely to keep closer in touch, with the larger affairs of commerce and shipping- than ever before.

Among transactions recently recorded was the purchase of tho interests of Thomas Wi'lson, Son, and Company, Limited, by Sir John Ellerman. The company owncd 72 steamers of 187,267 tons gross, and tho prico is said to have been between |4,000, 000 and £5.000,000 in cash. If these figures are correct, the transaction is probably the largest private deal on record, though, of course, overshadowed by Government operations. Sir John Ellerman now owns or controls vessels built or building to. tho extent of about 3,400,000 fa? s . weight, which is calculated by Fairplay" to be nearly one-eighth of the liner tonnage of over 10C0 tons. FRENCH NOTE ISSUE. French economists consider that tho time has arrived when it would bo advisablo to take certain measures in France to restrict further inflation of the noto issue. On October 28, tho latest date for which figures are available, the Bank of France showed notes outstanding to the value of 672,001,000 francs, an increase of 108,864,000 francs on the figures of 1916, and nearly three times those of 1914, just when the war broke out. Among the measures proposed to effect this object is one to make the, banker's draft to bo "used for all payments over £150. Tho customer who wishes to withdraw a larger sum will be required to state in a form provided for tho purpose what he intends to do with the .larger sum. If the money is for investment, or on acoount of a, purchase, or for any object for which a. draft on'another bank would suffice, no cash or noto withdrawal is to be allowed. Every person making or receiving large payments will be required to domicile his payments and receipts at a bank, so as to avoid the exchange of notes for largo amounts, which is now the case. This control of methods of payment may seem strange to the average NewV Zeaiander. but in Franco the nee of cheques is still very far from common. Another measure which is regarded as inevitable is the compulsory declaration by every private individual of tho amount of gold in his orher possession, and everyone will be required to exchange this gold for paper within a stated l period, under heavy penalties.

ITOZEN MEAT MARKET. Messrs. Gilbert Anderson and Co. (Messrß. Mellsop, Eliott and 00., Palmerston North, local agents) report on the frozen meat market under date London, October 20, as follows:— - ;

Bome-grown.—The market has been well supplied, .although no Dutch shipments have comoi to hand, the quantity of Home-grown' beef, mutton, and lamb being 2600 tons—436 tons greater than the corresponding week lest year. Lambs are not quite so plentiful, but beef comes along in good quantities; Frozen.—Now that colonial lambs are sufficient to meet the requirements of the trade, the South Americans have fallem in price to Jd. less than the colonial, and are. difficult to'sell at all. It'has only been tho extreme shortage of the colonial meat that has allowed the South American to realise the nrices it has, for as a satisfactory substitSte for New Zealand it has proved a signal failure. Mutton continues to he short, and higher prices are being made for the South American wethers, which, however,' are in very small quantities. Market Prices for Weeks Ending: Oct. 20. Oct. 22. Oct. 13. . 1916 1915. 1910. Home-grown— \ d. d. d. d. d. d. Berf, sides BJ-10i 75- 9J Si-lOi Mutton, 'wethers ... 101-13 81-10 10 -12i Mutton, owes 8i- 9$ 7-7* 8- 95 Tegs '115-134 9 -105 114-13 Lambs 95-135 85-10J 9J-13 Pork (best) 125-14 11 -115 12J-14 Veal (best) 115-13 95-11 11 -13J Frozen: Mutton— Jf.Z. wethers 82 7§- 7 8| N.Z. ewes '8 53 8 Australian None 5}- 5J None S. American weth- / ers BJ-8 6J-6 81-73 Lamb, N.Z 95 8J- 73 9t Lamb, S. American '9 -85 6J- 6J 9- 8* Pork, U.S.A 83-1U 73-9 9-115 Chilled— ' Argentine ox, fores and hinds 72- % 6i- 83 75- 9} N.Z. BUTTER AND CHEESE. London, December 26. The Board of Trade has promised the Bight Hon. Vt T . P. Massey and Sir Joseph, Ward to make provision for the carriage of butter and cheese.—Ajus.-N.Z. Calfi Association. \ . CHICAGO WHEAT PRICES. London, December 26. At - Chicago yesterday wheat "futures" were quoted as follow December options: Highest 1625 cents, lowest 159 cents; May options, highest 1725 cents, lowest 1675 cents—Ans.-if.Z. Cable Assn.