COMMEECIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 970, 17 June 1868, Page 2

COMMEECIAL INTELLIGENCE.

.'■■-; Times Office, . . . Tuesday Evening; * The following are the Customs returns for— ? Tuesday, 16th June.

. ' : ..■■; .: '■'■ > — " » ■ — — • : Messrs A. J: Smyth & Co;, report :— - i •■• ,■ At Saturday's sale, held at Mr Galbraith's yards, the attendance was good and nearly all ;.,,. r ihat,wiiß,offere4 was sold. Hacks, brought from .^£l3 to £25. Second-hand drays. found good competition, and several lots of farming imple- • ments brought very satisfactory prices. The Wellington "Independent," Bth June, jsa'y^ in it§ Panama summary, reports on commercial matters as follows : — The transactions of the past month in town ; have been unimportant and wholly confined to the supply of immediate wants ; nor have the country dealers shewn any disposition to do other wise. Oar stock of goods is probably lighter , t':sn it has been for. some years past, yet such is the general feeling of depression that prices are only slightly affected in some few instances, „. by what, in more active times, would have caused a brisk and speculative demand for every article of home consumption. The ; ■ arrival of the Gertrude from Lolftlcn, with a large , ; cargo for this market, will^tend to keep prices stationary, unless some cause for improvement in trade should arise, which we cannot at this moment see mu"h reason to anticipate. Our 'heavy tariff presses too heavily upon trade to admit of much expansion, and the exceedingly low prices of produce of every description, puts it out of the power of the farmers to do otherwise than exist, in the hope that better times may be in store iu the future.

The " West Coast Times" of June 8 reports : — We cannot report very favourably of business for tWVt-ek The very inclement weather experienced daring the early part of the week has materially affected busin?B3 coastwise, the heavy rains and haiL storms, together with the strong frosts, have not been equalled since three winters past. A favourable chsngo in the weather, however, is indicated to-ni^ht, ami wo trust there will bo no obstacle to a good business for the coming week. There is little alteration to note in value of principal staples. Brandies have improved since last advices frora Melbourne. An advance of 3d per gallon may be quoted as current price. Case continues to improve in value, but does not keep pace with the Melbourne market, prices there being 80s to 325, leaving no profit to shippers, 34s to 36s being the market rate ruling here. Geneva and case spirits continue low in stock, and leave no advantage to Bhippers. The flour market is easier, consequent upon supplies and advices. We have been advised of transactions in Adelaide brands at £28. The current price is £29, market drooping. Oats are without alteration. Holdew shew a disposition , to obtain better rates than ruling during the 1 week. Bran has been sold at 2s 3d ; stocks light, quotation firm. Chaff has been placed somewhat lower than our last quotation, and now realises £16 to £17 10s per ton. In provisions there is no alteration to note. First-class butter, hams, and bacon are readily placed at prices favorable to the importer. Our market is at i present well supplied with potatoes. In addition to usual invoices the trade have an opportunity of purchasing this esculent from Circular Head, ex Martha and Lavinia, which will fuUj test the market, ruling lately at £7 to £8 per ton. The "Lyttelton Times," 10th June, has the following items of commercial intelligence : — The grain market continued without improvejneot on Saturday, and but little business of any description was transacted. In face of the unsatisfactory advices from Australia, buyers are chary of giving the higher rates, and but little is offering at the lower. No alteration is to be noted in any of our former quotations. The " Sydney Morning Herald," 3rd inst.i has the following items of commercial intelligence :— Messrs R. F. Stubbs and Co.'s Bale to-day brought together a full attendance of the trade, and the whole of the sugars ex Hooghley were quitted at from £38 15s to £39 5s for white crystals; straw ditto and yellow counters, £32. 10s to £35 ; rations, £28. Several invoices of oilman's stores, provisions, &c, found buyers at quotations. The Hobarfc Town "Mercury," June 3rd, reports : — We have no change whatever to note in the markets to-day. Business has been particularly quiet, and transactions limited to the supply of local demands. We quote prices as under:— Flour, £17 per ton ; wheat, 6s 9d to 7s per bushel; oats, 2s 9d to 3s per bushel ; English barley from 4s 9d to 6s per bushel for prime samples ; Cope barley is moved off slowly at from 3s to3s6d per bushel; hay, £3 .to £3 10s per '■"ton 5 "straw, £1 10s to £1 15s per ton ; potatoes, £2 10b to £3 per ton, including bass ; butter, from 6d to lOdper pound ; cheese, 6d to lOd per pound j bacon continues to be very dull of sale, the market being much overstocked, and may be quoted at^from 6d to Bd. The "Argus" (Melbourne) of the 6th Juno reports : — The markets throughout the day have worn an exceedingly inanimate aspect, and in no instance whatever has the dullness and monotony complained of been relieved by a desire evinced to operate in any of the principal staple articles of produce. The cargo of sugar, per Oberlin, consisting of 4,000 bags, was offered by auction ip the forenoon, and every bag was disposed of for net cash, at fair prices, but the whole having been sold for damaged, the sale is no criterion of a brisk market. Breadstuff's have been little dealt in ; for though a good baker's demand was experienced at £21 10s to £22, the larger buyers refused to go beyond £21, terms, in their offers ; we have, in consequence, no business to report. For wheat, 9s 4£d to 9s 6d has been readily obtained for the small parcels placed on the market. Oatß are difficult to quit j best qualities are saleable at 3s 9d, thouj^ojhjr^ j^cuptions r are offered at Ipbb. money without Boding purchasers. Maize is moved off at 3s 7a to 3s Bd, according to quantity, but no large parcels have been got rid of to-day. In kerosene? we note a good trade inquiry, which has led to the sale of ft few small parcels of outside brands at Is 6Jd for Union, to Is 7d for Cozzens's ; a line of 1000 cases Pevoe's, to arrive, was placed at Is 6id. An improved inquiry has sprung up for Chinese oil, and considerable sales have been made at 3s 9d ; higher rates are now wanted. Candles are getting more into favor ; we learn of about 1500 boxes, in parcels,, having been disposed of chiefly at lid for best brands; in some cases, Hid was realised. The balance of the Cornelia and Geertruida's Java undressed rice, 1500 mats, was taken up at £23, being 20s in advance of late ■ales. Teas have not been characterised by much activity ; transactions, however, still continue to be reported. A parcel of good common congous, in half chests, was quitted at Is 6d. A short time ago we referred, as a novel feature, to the shipment to London of a large parcel, and we again observe that the Lincolnshire clears out iwith 1500 packages, likewise for London, and that freight for a similar quantity iB also taken out by the Anglesey. We learn of an invoice of sheet-iron, high numbers, having been quitted at £13 10s.

Brandy, 140 gals ... £83 18 10 Whiskey, 36 gals ... 21 14 5 r - • - Geneva, 24 gals ... ... 14 8 9 Tobacco, 562 lbs . ... 82 15 0 . Tea, 405 lbs 10 2 6 . Y Sugar, 8680 lbs ... ... 15 6 8 ; ,: Sundries ... ... :v . 2 810 ' ''■ £230 15 0