BRITISH TRADE.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 March 1927, Page 4

BRITISH TRADE.

FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. DAIRY BOARD’S ACTIVITIES LONDON, March 12. The Stock Exchange is passing through one of its quiet periods, business in most departments being on a small scale. There "as some activity in gilt-edgeds last week, but a sudden tightening of the money rates stopped this niul caused some contraction in prices, net Consols going to cine-eighth per cent, discount. Previously there bad lieeii some talk of an early reduction in the bank rate, but once again this seems t:> be premature, and, as the money rates cm the other side of the Atlantic have hardened, there does not. seem justification for the lowering of our rate at present. Some financial newspapers are talking about the probable early issue of the Commonwealth loan, but from the best-ill formed circles it is learned that this is unlikely and that conditions remain exactly as cabled a fortnight ago.

WINE DUTIES. The Budget prospects are being anxiously discussed by wine traders. Some anticipate that Mr Winston Churchill will follow the example of the Irish Free State and double the duties. The Chancellor has received a deputation on the subject of tbe Budget, and was extremely guarded in bis replies. He gave no information about wine, but regarding the spirit duty lie said it would not be right for him to use g rs language, calculated to encourage anticipation of a reduction. The distillers. however, still are hopeful, the latest rumour being that tbe Chancellor is meditating the introduction of a graduated spirit duty. BUTTER MARKET. The colonial butter market is going from bad to worse. There has been fair enquiry for Australian not only for the Home trade, hut also for the United States and Canada, whither about 15,000 boxes of Australian have been shipped from London in the last fortnight, hut the demand for New Zealand butter has l>een so had that the bulk of the arrivals for some time have been placed in cold store, with the result that the quantity of New Zealand stored is estimated at about 400.000 boxes. This is a serious position, in view of the near approach of spring, and th‘> prospect of large supplies of

Homo make. os well ns butter from I ho Coni incut. Traders Here attribute this unsatis>ry state of affairs largely to the action of the Now Zealand Control Hoard. Their opinion was voiced by the chairman at the annual meeting of the London Provision Exchange, when ho said that New Zealand control was unpopular in its inception and had continued unpopular ever since, and it was not likely to outlive its unpopularity. Its action had Ikicii both autocratic and bureaucratic.

“'lt prevents goods from reaching the consumer in the freshest and best condition, and must have gone far to nullify any g od effect that the advertising of Empire goods may have produced— at any rate so far as New Zealand is concerned. ' AVOOIi IMPROVES.

The wool outlook npjiears decidedly favourable and there is a consensus of opinion that prices will show an advance when the wool sales open in London on Tuesday. People are talking of a rise of 5 to 7.J per rent, in merinos and fine crossbreds, with a slight- improvement in medium and coarse crossbreds. There seems to he good ground for this expectation, for the consumption both at Home, and on the Continent now appears to ho sufficiently large to absorb all the preset and prospective supplies. .Bradford reports say that business in wool tons and yarns has shown substantial expansion during the last few days. Some firms hare been disposing of fair weights of raw material to the Continent either in tile form of matchings or in hale, Germany being the customer for the former and France for the latter. Users of tops have Ik'oii placing orders for appreciably | larger weights than they formerly had been content to buy, and spinners have been doing better business in yarns. A satisfactory feature is that purely speculative operations have been reduced to negligible proportions. Tops and yarns are wanted to cover actual orders, which is a testimony to the improvement in consumption. The manufacturing end of the trade is ! showing growing confidence in the ox- j treme improbability of the cost of wool allow ing any modification in the price : of semi-manufacture. I