Hemp.

Manawatu Herald, 7 October 1899, Page 2

Hemp.

The following extract from the Cordage Trade Journal of New York, under date 15th August, throws some light on the upward movements of our hemp market :— " Up to last Thursday (10th August) manila prices were having (in the London market) the usual fluctua. tion. . . . Then came the report that General Otis had resolved to close up the sources of the siuews of war j possessed by the insurgents by closing ? the ports, which means that the shipping of hemp will be seriously interfered with if an effective blockade of the provincial ports can be maintained. This report caused an advance of £2 a ton in London, which of course was followed by the New York holders. Friday a further advance of £2 10 was reported from London, making the price there £39. Saturday 10s was added to this price ; Monday another £1 10s, making the quotation £41 ; and on Tuesday the quotation reached £42, the highest price that has ruled for fair current in London since 1889." There was thus evidently a very excited mar* ket, with an advance of £7 10s from Thursday to Tuesday on the initial quotation of £34 10s, a rise of near az per cent. On the strength of this movement no doubt orders were cabled out to New Zealand, and further contracts entered into with our millers, at better prices. Still, it must be confessed that the whole position is precarious, the manila hemp has not been destroyed, only withheld, and if, one fine day, the news should arrive that the Manila rebellion had collapsed the hemp market would come tumbling about the ears of speculators. We would counsel oar millers to take this view into their reckoning, and be prepared for such a contingency. Among other things it would be wise on their part to take care that every bale of hemp supplied is of undeniable quality, so as to leave no reasonable excuse for repudiation or reclamations which would be too likely to follow on a sudden and heavy drop in prices. This has been the experience on previous -> occasions when a slump has occurred, and what has happened once will happen again. — Post.