COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4386, 10 April 1875, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

The Customs duties received at this port for the week ending April S, 1875, were as under: £ s. d. £ s. d. Spirits .. .. 555 15 S Sugar .. .. 358 911 Cigars .. .. 0 0 0 Goodsbyweight SO 17 8 Tobacco.. .. 207 14 9 Do.ad valorem 050 2 9 Wine .. .. 55 1 1 Other duties.. 150 IS 0 Beer .. .. 73 18 9 Light dues, Tea 107 12 3 shipping &c. 33 710 Coffee and chicory .. .. 218 0 £2084 10 S Import trade moderate during the week, and few changes in quotations to report. In oilmens' stores several lines arc becoming scarce and enquired for—notably pickles and Lea and Perrins’ sauce, &c. Currants are low in stock ; market almost bare ; quoted at 4sd. per lb. Kerosene.—Heavy stocks, and large shipments to arrive from New York—lsoo cases per Light of the Age, 000 cases per Mercury, and 2250 cases per Queen of the South. Present rates rule from 2s. to 2s. Id. per gal., d.p. Sperm candles are still in excess of the demand, stocks estimated at 5500 eases in bond and duty paid. There is no change to report in quotations for spirits, which are in moderate demand. Sugars unaltered in value although stocks are becoming more manageable, I.C. £43 to £44 ; duty paid, C. £4l ; I. £3O ; at auction to-day Mr. Fv. J Duncan sold 10 tons Melbourne Company’s T. sugar at £34 10s. per ton, duty paid. In New Zealand produce trade is only moderate, oats are dull owing to the quantities of new oats offering, and prices show a further depression—good fine oats are quoted at 2s. lOd. to 3s. per bushel, with little enquiry. Hams and bacon in firm demand, at last weeks quotations Butter in improved-demand—sales of cured in kegs are reported at Is. 3d, Cheese scarce—worth SBh to lOd. per lb. Mr. J. H. Wallace, at his monthly sale of stock at the Hntt Market, on the 7th inst., sold fat steers at £0 to £8 155.; store cattle, mixed lot, yearlings to 3 years, £2 15s. per head ; cows, £3 to £0 ; horses, £3 ss. to £ls ; 2-tooth rams, 205.; a few old ewes, 2s. od. per head; wethers withdrawn at Ss. Od. per head.

DUNEDIN IMPORT MARKET. (From the Otago Dally Times , April 5.) The month, so far as it has gone, lias given good promise of business ; but there is nothing sufficient to base a certainty of continued improvement. Things remain quiet; and, moreover, it takes some time to get out of the stagnation caused by the holidays, and Messrs. Whitelaw and Co.’s clearing sale by auction on Tuesday, the 30th ult., of certain balances and parcels of the stock of Messrs. Dalgety, Nichols, and Co., was the only stirring event of the week, and that not of great importance. Some old teas were offered, but found no buyers, and at a prorogued sale of the same goods, in the rooms of the auctioneers, which included sugars ex Fanny Breslauer, the sugars were passed in, importers’ limits being beyond the ideas of the trade. AVe would name some few of the prices realised: Tar. acid, 2s. IJfl.; Colman’s blue. Did. to 9-i|d.; Colman’s starch, 4 3-l Gd.: Morton’s salad oil, pints, 10s. 3d.; Morton’s sauces, J-pints, ss. fid.; Lea and Perrins’s sauces, 4-prnts, 2s-; Belmont candles, lOjd.: Tennant’s ale, pints, 11s. 3d. Brandy exhibits no advancing tendency, and though firmer in Melbourne, the improvement has not reached here Besides one or two parcels of the higher brands in whisky, no transactions have been noted. Geneva is still dull, and equally so is rum. Spirits of no kind, in fact, give any token of life. Bottled ale and stout continue dead, and with the exception of some few parcels of Bass's bulk—new brew, just arrived—which has gone into consumption, there is nothing to report. Wine'is dull, what few sales have been made being in port, which we expect to find in better inquiry during the next few months. It is the remark of those who watch the market in liquids closely, that the consumption of wine bears to spirits a less proportion than it once did. In tea, as witnessed at Messrs. Dalgety, Nichols, and Co.'s sale, old and past seasons are out of inquiry at present. The demand may revive ; and of the steady movement of the present season's a slight interruption has been noted this week—it tends to hang. Sugar is in heavy stock—buyers full and disinclined to operate. In tobacco a fair business is being done at good prices. We hear of a large sale having been made in town to an extensive firm in the North. Oilmen’s stores are in average request—prices fairly maintained, although stocks are sufficient—inquiry for sundry articles has been brisk during the week. Provisions of every kind are scarce. Hams and bacon, Home and colonial, particularly colonial, are much inquired for, but the demand is very inadequately met. The proper season for curing having arrived, we hope to find supplies coming forward soon. Butter continues scarce, and rising in price. Cheese is the same. In kerosene, the market is still completely lethargic, with stocks in bond heavy. In hops, the high rates demanded for Kent have been directing the attention of brewers to Nelson and Tasmania. Samples of the former in town appear to give, satisfaction as to quality. Little continues to be done in malt, but we anticipate improvement both in colonial and English. Galvanised iron remains in eager inquiry. Cement is scarce, and the demand increasing daily; not only are concrete houses increasing, but the number of foundations in concrete are multiplying, while the ordinary builders’ demand is daily advancing also. In timber, the yards continue stocked, but we may mention that for some weeks now the trade have been supplied with quantities to suit their wants direct from the several cargoes that have come to hand. Wc notice this as a new feature in the trade, or rather as showing a tendency to revert to a mode of doing business for some time given up. And wc are told that the auctioneers of these cargoes were enabled to clear out every line. Flour remains at last quotations—£lo 10s. in sacks, per ton, £ll in bags ; a fair town trade doing, and some little exports to Northern ports. In wheat, there is little offering, and no fixed value. Oats have no established price either: we hear of 8000 bushels prime milling, for immediate delivery, having been sold at 2s. Gd. per bushel. Barley, first-class malting, is worth from ss, to ss. Cd.; second class, from 4s. 9d. to ss. Bran and pollards, both scarce, arc worth respectively £5 and £O. BY TELEGRAPH. AUCKLAND, Friday. Mr. Alexander Saunders reports;—Sales: Beach, 12s. ; Oak, 7s. Od. Buyers: Bank of New Zealand, 3605. ; Colonial Bank, 20s. Sellers : National Insurance, 295. ; City of York, 7s. ; Cure, fia. ; Fiji Bank, 58s. ; Standard, 15s. Mr. G. W. Binncy reports:—Grain market very unsettled ; flour, although quoted by local millers at £l2, they arc unable to meet the demand, so arc evidently trying to prevent Adelaide and Southern brands coming into the market. Oats, 3s. Gd. ; barley, os. ; wheat, 4s. ; bran, £7 ; pollard, £7 10s. • maize, none; oatmeal, £22; pearl barley, £2O; butter. Is. 4d. ; cheese, none; hams and bacon, none. Mr. Buckland reports Fat cattle, 245. to 275. per lOOlbs. ; fat sheep, short supply, 4kl.