COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 918, 18 March 1868, Page 2

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Toces Office, Tuesday Evening. The following are the Customs Returns for — Monday, March 16.

The Melbourne " iXrgpa" of the 11th inst., says : — ! Business in the import markets begins to a*»ume a healthier tone- The buyers corae forward with greater readiness* and altogether there is more disposition evinced to enter upon exten«ea operations than has been noticed for >wtime. In the market for breadstuff's, we observed! less firmness, and sales of Victon*® flour have been made at & somewhat tower figureLthan-WaaerpactedLto^be ruling ccc; this, putting it beyond our power to qtwte over £19 to £19 10s. At the formxar price, amongst other sales, fifty tora* ehaased hands in one line; and for smaller parcels up to 10s more was obtained. Wheat has been disposed of at 7s 9d t6 8s and 8s Id. Speculation in oats stilT cofitanoes. A line of 10,000 Tmshels of Tasteaaian jb reported to have been placed at acpeatreme figure, over 5s having, it is said, been realised. Some 15,000 bushels of CaMfomian are likewise stated to have been' tafeen up at 4s. Maize ia steady at 3s lOgd' to 4s ; but we do not hear of much business being done in the article. Hops are inquired for. A shipment of fifty pockets and? other parcels of 1867 Kent, have been taken up for export, at equal to 2s 6d, dtUy paid. By auction, candles brought better prices ; some 600 boxes were quitted at Hid* for much to llfd for slightly damaggd. Sales of teas to a moderate extent are re^ ported at Is 6d to 1b 9d ; for one line off about 200 half- chests, close on Is 8d was paid. For fine teas a good deal more inquiry has sprung up, which is likely to feed to business. Sugars, for trade purposes, are moved off at £32 10s for low fcrowa crystals, and up to £38 10s for good greys. About 1,000 bags of Mauritius and Java, sold under the hammer, brought £28 to £29 7s 6d for browns, and £30 10* to £33 10s for yellowa. The Adeline Burke r s cargo of 4,800 bags will Be offered on Thursday. Sales of currants are mentioned at 2f d, in bond. Kero 3ene oS still meets with favor. Some 700 eases' of Devoe's, Cozzen's, anfl Downey's wer& disposed of at Is 9£d, Is lod » ar t d | Js Ildy respectively. Galvanised iron k' wanted^ and we learn of £29 10a having free® refused for one of the better brands of English, 24 and 26 gauge. The Pelham, •tfitb tbe second cargo of new rice from Gatctstta r has arrived to-day. The entire cargo wili be- offered by auction on Thursday. Th«re' is not raoch doing in spirits. By the- Panama 1 mail) we are in receipt of c Otardfe Circular' for December, by which we observe that the price for 1867 brandy has beeu declared 1 at 14W. per hectolitre, or equal to 6s 3d j in France, the price of their case brandy was fixed at 20s f. o. b. at Ch irente. We- hear of small parcels of Hennessy's pale,, in; bulk, having been quitted at .7s 6d. Large sales of spirits are advertised for Thursday, viz., 9000 eases of JDKZ geseva, and 2000 cases of Martell's brandy. j

Brandy, 149 gals £89 8 10 Geneva,. 86- gala 51 15 0 Wine, 13ft gala 26 1 7 Whisky, lda-gala.... ... 62 4 6 Sugar, 150QU>a- .... ... 6 5 0 £235 14 10 Tuijida^.Maroh. 17. Drapery ~. ... 14 17 5 fgndoM .~ .... 519 & £2016 5