COMMERCIAL.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2221, 8 April 1881, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

o The Cnatomn dnties collected at Christohuroh on Wednesday, April 6th, were as follows s Spirits, .£413 10*; tobacco, -fill! 2s; wine, £1 2s; beer, £57 10s; goods by weight. £46 10a 7d; ad valorem, £97 4a lOd; other duties, £3 12a. Total, £731 lis sd. The past week has been a most uneventful one in the import market. Sales of. general merchandise have been on a most limited scale, and there is a disposition on the part of traders to confine orders to the lowest possible point. The Weatfa, with a cargo of Bugar from the Mauritius, haß put in an appearance, and sales of . most clasßeß are being pushed by the importers. Further arrivals may be looked for very shortly. Loaf sugar has been sold in small lots ex recent arrivals, and fnll rateß have been obtained owing to the bareness of stocks. A few purchases of fine teas have been made up to la lOd to 2s Id in bond, and low at lOd to Is Id. Stocks of Glomes are low, but the demand is equally quiet; 7id to 7Jd is asked. Oilmen's stores have only seen trade inquiry. Considerable sales of candles of the Wellington and Dunedin manufacturers have transpired at list prices, and it may be noted that' the consumption of ■ those • goods is daily becoming more extensive. There is no doubt the local production in apparently affecting the sale of the imported article. The week has elicited an enquiry for bluestono, and as the Bowing season is now beginning some business may be anticiarrive are being quitted at 30s to J -a. Stocks of ploughshares era beginning to work down, but prices have in no way improved. Transactions in powdor have this season been very much behind tho average. Quittances are difficult to make, local Btocks boing ample, and the market is further deadened by offers from several interprovincial sources. Castor oil has been sold at ■4s. Nearly all the boiled and raw recently to hand has passed into second hands at late rates. A slight trade has taken place in wire, chiefly No. 8, but the business calls for no special notice. Corneacks are without change. There ia no alteration in brandy or whiskeys, and business has been limited outside of trade lots. Sherries are qniet, but a bettor demand for low to medium ports con be noted. Engagements ■ on tho 4th of the month were met with prompti- - tudo.

CORN EXCHANGE. The following is the report for the week ending Friday, the Bth of April : Business in the grain trade during the past week has been rather sluggish. This is to be aooonnted for mainly by the dearth of" tonnage. Large quintitiss of grain ore now lying in Lyttelton awaiting shipment, and bo large have the arrivals been that the authorities are compelled to stack the grain in the open, of conrso taking the precaution to have it well covered. Country stations are all crowded, and unable to take more in. Under theae circumstances it is not surprising that a check has been given to intending buyers. The long continued drought to which attention was drawn in last week's report has been dispelled by a seasonable and copious rain, which was general throughout the country, and has been productive of much •good. Wheat.—Long berried parcels in large lines and good quality will command 3a 9d to 3s 10a per bnshel, f.o b. ; velvet chaff and pearl, 3s 7d to 3a 8d ; Hunter's white, 3s 6d ; parcels of a quality not quite bo good as the foregoing, 2d per bushel less ; chick wheat, from la 9d to 2a £>d per bushel. Oats are still in good demand, with the supply rather bare. Holders are still unwilling to take the money offered, while consumers will not give the advance asked. Good bright milling samples are worth from Is 8d to Is lOd per bushel; feed quality, Is 6d to Is 7d per bushel. No samples offering at the Corn Kxchange. Barley—The market is extremely dull, little or no business is being done, brewers and maltsters are all fully supplied, and none but the primest samples will meet with any attention from them. Medium to roally good may be quoted at from 2s 6d to 3s Od per bushel ; in two instances, where the quality was exceptionally fine, 3d and 6d per bushel over the highest quotations was obtained.

Grass Seed —The demand continues active, •with but few parcels offering. Woll cleaned farmers' parcela are worth from 3b 6d to 4b per brisked ; indifferently cleaned according to sample.

Potatoes—The market has not yet bren fairly oponed, only a few small lots having changed bands (excepting those ealea which take place for forward delivery). Tho few amall sales which have been made have been from 33a to 35s per ton at conntry stations within from seven to eight miles of Chriatchurch. The tone of the market is firm.

Beans and Peas—The former are being inquired for at from 8s to 3a Id; the latter 3a to 3a Oil, according to sort. Checso and Butter— The former is extremely dull of sale, at 3d to 3£d per lb ; the latter, 6Jd to 7d per lb. Hay—£2 10s per ton. SHARE MARKET. Sales —Fcr the week nding April 7th : Bank of New Zealand. £22 15a ; New Zealand Shipping Co.. .£5; New Zealand Drug Co., £1 la ; Colonial Insurance, 11a 9d. Buyers— National Back, 65b ; Union Insurance, 20a 6d; Colonial Insurance, Us 6d ; Standard Insurance, lis; Chriatchurch Ga 3 (£lO paid), £ls; Christchnrch Gtis (£3 paid), .£5; Kow Zealand Lonn and Mercantile Agency Co.. £5 10s ; Canterbury Tramwaya, par. Sellers—Bank of New Zealand. .£23; Now Zealand Shipping Co., £5: South British Insurance, 58a 6d; Nationnl Insurance, 29s ; Union Insurance, 21s ; Colonial Insurance, 12s; Wellington Gas (£lO paid), £l4; Aehbnrton Gao (.£3 paid), par. Money secured on freehold properties at 7 per cent, per annum. COMMERCIAL TELEGRAMS.

Dunedin, April 7. Prima beef, 20s per 1001 b; mutton, 2id to 2Jd. Wheat harvesting operations being now pretty well comploted, farmers are beginning to place produce more freely on the market, and 'no difficulty is experienced in disposing of any parcels at about last week's quotation*, 3b 9d to 3s lOd for prime milling, 3a 6d to 3a 8d for foir to good nnd 2s 6d to 3s for fowl feed. Feed oats are in fair request, chiefly for shipment, at Is 6d to Is 7d. The demand for milling ia very small, and quotations are nominal, at Is 7id to to Is Bd. Barley—nothing of interest to report.