DOMINION TRADE

Hokitika Guardian, 8 September 1932, Page 8

DOMINION TRADE

MONTHLY REVIEW. ✓ ; '

IMPROVED CONDITIONS IN JtJLlfc

In the review, of business for July the Government Statistician sai<J:

“Little movement ...vras evident in baife' debits during July,” the. review states; “but isuch as there was, although in a downward direction, wag so slight as to suggest a reflection of the alteration in' price levels rather than‘’any appreciable diminution in the volume of transacted. The movement of fails as yet .to confirm p'e anticipatory spirit, . noticeable in jbAsiness' 1 Proles, of a reversal of trend.

IMPROVED TRADE CONDITIONS,

"'Trade conditions ar 6 in a vastlyimproved condition this month compared to the position a year ago. Although exports have almost reached the customary lowest ebb for the y ear, bo great. Ms teei^.the. diminution of im-; ports of late that the balance of .trade for the month reroame in favour of the Dominion to the extent, of £454,000 expressed in terms. oj New. Zealand cuv rency). This represents an increase ot 80, per cent, over July,-1931. For the cumulative period of, seven months the 1 favourable visible balance of trade . stands at £10,600,000, a figure of 31.4 percent. in exoess of that for ,ttie ,'corjresponding period; of • 1391. Frozen lamb and mutton have been going abroad iif quantities fchits year, probably as a reflection of the depressed state of!.the wool trade, with the re-; suit that the Home market was particii-* laxly . well stocked during July. 'Consequently the price level for New Zea-r land meat has. been unfavourably affected. 'lamb especially suffering towards the end of the month.

WOOL AND BUTTER,

“This is the. quiet period of the year for wool locally, but it is satis-' factory to note- an undoubted improvement in tone /it the London July sales: The recent Wellington winter sale " crutchings and fleece wools, while per-' baps insufficient to test the market fully, nevertheless displayed an improving tendency. Butter improved;, oh the London market during the month; under review,, but cheese remained---quiet until well on ih August, whena firming- tendency was cabled;, j «Xhe dairy production -season «n,ding in July was a record one so far as total butterfat output . was concerned,. Generally 'speaking, feed , conditions dpring Jthe season, especially in the eiirly winter months, were conducive towards a sustained improvement ; milk yield,, a- iactqaincreased production. A comparison of average prices, realised -on the market abroad, however, reveals the dairying industry to have -been in a slightly, Worse position during the season, just closed than in the 1930-31 season,- particularly as regards butter. The mar-! %t figures f° rcheesb clearly reflect. thf;| effect of the standardisation policy and its abandonment. - •

s “Land transfer -statistics • indicate a- . brightening aspect for the month, al-; 'though the mortgage business appears continue dull. Bankruptcies during .the first six xiionths of the year com- 1 pare favourably with a similar period iii 1931, in spite of the sustained period qj declining turnovers .in general busi-: - itess operations.

: TRANSPORT FIGURES

’ “The, transport statistics for the ijionth reveal a comparatively satisfactory position. The railways record the maintenance of passenger traffic on the •improved level ' ,established in recent months, while the ratio of operating •xpenditure to revenue is being retained within, reasonable bounds, principally through the drastic curtailment of " the former. Shipping was-particu-. |arly brisk during the month, the fleet especially being apparently - more active • than for some time-- pagt, judging on the figures of quantity mf cargo conveyed.”

.1 OVERSEAS TRADE.. v ;i The customary heavy decline in exports for this time of the year hi a}l but butter, of the Dominion’s principal primary products was 'responsible for the decrease in the total exports for July of 7.6 per cent, in comparison with June. However, compared ivith July, 1931, exports .for the current month were up by 8.0 per cent. Even so, the total for the month was 11.1' per cent, below the average for July for the last five year. The seven-months cumulative figures of export* are up this yeaT by 2.4 per cent., as compared with a similar period of 1931, but; 'down by 24.7 per cent, in comparison >* with " Whs latest quinquennial average fertile period. Contrasting the prin-. cipaf.' export* during Ahe two sevenmonths periods of 1931 and 1932,* ft is seen that wool records .an fnci^a& n of. 6.2 .per ’cent, in, quantity, but a decrease of 2.2 per cent, in value exported; frozen lamb, an ~inprea6e , Qf 8.2 per cent, in quantity but a decrease of .1.2 per cen|. in value frozen mutton, an increase of 34.7 per cent, in quantity and of, 11,1 per cent, in value; butter, a..'decrease of jL.S. .p&j.. cejjt. in, quantity, of .9-4 pep ceht, in vnluq; cljeefe, an of 0.6 per cent, in quantity, and of 4,7 per cent.) in value. , , . '

Impojts for the month . decreased by, 1.9; per .cent., and the .total, .value jtfr, corjed. was. 1.4.,, per cent. below the level of the . . July, total last year. . The principal,, jtyma,; ~„cqntributing towards thi® decreff* vfere motor-spirit (£84,000) anq coal '(*32,000). imports of wheat