TRADE NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 December 1920, Page 7

TRADE NOTES.

IMPORTANCE OF OVERSEA MARKETS. ! » LATEST TENDENCY IN SHIPPING. DEMAND FOR CHEAPER LIVING. London, 14th Oct. The Central Profiteering Committee is busily engaged, through the agency of several sub-committees, in requiring into schemes for fixing standard prices of various commodities in general use, thus, it is hoped, bringing about a considerable -cut in the cost of living. One of the matters which has especially engaged attention is the price of men's clothing, as to which many complaints have reached the committee. The sub-comittee is examining details of a scheme under which a reduction will be made in the price of ready-made suits of excellent quality. In the boot trade a scheme is at a istage of advanced preparation. Hosiery prices also are being inquired into. Further, the committee is anxious to see if anything can be done to reduce the present high cost of building materials, and so relieve the difficulties of local authorities in all parts of the country in proceeding with their housing plans. The schemes when completed will be submitted for approval to the Board of -Trade.

SUGAR FROM MAIZE. After more than three years ol experiments, says the New York special correspondent of The Times Trade Supplement, the General Food Products Company announces that Dr. A. W. Smith and -S. P. Evans, of Baltimore, have invented a process by which white sugar ißay bo obtained from maize and manufactured for less than 4. cents, per lb. t It is said that the sugar is 80 per cent, as sweet as cane sugar and Bhould sell at 8 cents per lb. It is claimed that one bushel of maize will produce about 401b of the syrup, and that with an annual maize crop of more than three billion bushels about 7 per cent, of the crop will produce all the sugar the United States can use.

SAFE MARKETS. It cannot be ton strongly urged, says the Trade Supplement of The Times, that British manufacturers and mer- ■ chants would be well advised to do everything possible to develop the markets of the oversea. Empire, and to recover trade which has been lost to the United States and .Japan during recent years. Trade with the greater part of Europe bristles with difficulties and involves serious risks, which are absent in the case of markets under the British ilatr. In these times it is clearly desirable that the great bulk of our trade should Ibe conducted. with countries where reasonably stable conditions prevail, and the larger the proportion which inter-Imperial commerce bears to our total overseas trade the less likelihood there will be of incurring heavy losses.

SUCCESSFUL GERMAN INDUSTRY.

The German textile industry, which has of late begun even to invade England again, has had such an astoundingly successful year that its iiigh records of peace time are put completely in the shade. The most wonderful example of industrial recovery is that of the North German Worsted Manufacturing and* Yarn Spinning Company, tif Bremen. It has declared a dividend of 12 per cent, and a bonus of 500 marks on each 1000 marks share —equal to a dividend of 62 per cent. During the twelve months covered by the report the company did four times more business than it did last year or during the twelve months before the outbreak of war. The Mitweida Cotton Shipping Company furnishes another striking instance of recovered prosperity. Its net profit is 9,700,000 marks as against 2,000,000 marks in the previous year and in 1913-14. Despite carrying a large amount to reserve and the payment of considerable sums to wipe out debts of the war years, the company is able to pay a dividend of 35 per cent.

THE BOOT TRADE. The twenty-first international fair of the shoe and leather trade, notv being held at Islington, proves amongst other things that it ig no' longer necessary to depend on Germany for the supply of upper leather. It is evident that the capacity for trade is greater now than , before the war, owing to the increase in production which was occasioned by Army demands; and the help of the Overseas Trade Department In finding markets abroad is of vital importance. At present the industry is affected by labor pnreat, and the use of boots and shoes has also been reduced of late. To a small extent this is attributed to rubber "tips"; but to a larger extent, to the increase in price of upper leather. Formerly it was about Sd a foot, whereas it is now from 3s Gd to 4s 6d per foot. The cancellation of orders for abroad has placed on the market a large stock of surplus boots and shoes, for which there is little demand. Owing to the quantity of boots made of inferior material being placed upon the market, boot distributors and retailers are asking the. Ministry of Health to frame a measure which will enforce a standard of non-adultera-tion. The form suggested is that a label should be attached to each pair of boots or shoes stating what the artiqle 13 made of. By this means the distributors think that purchasers would be protected from buying boots injurious to" health. =

BETTER SUGAR SUPPLY. It is stated that the stocks pf sugar in the country are very satisfactory, and that tin? Government purchase of the Mauritius crop, shipments of which will begin shortly and continue into the new year, lias made the position quite secure for some time to come. Under these circumstances, it is stated, an increase iii the ration by another 4oz, per head per week is likely % take place in the near future. . BRITISH-MADE PENCILS. The amalgamation of two British firms so well kiurtvn and so long established as E.' Wolff ami Son and Arthur Johnson, Ltd., is an event of some significance to all who are watching the progress, of British industry in these critical times. Both firms have been established for over a hundred years, and both specialise in the manufacture of British pencils.' Thev will now trade as the Royal Sovereign Pencil Company, Ltd., and the combination should undoubtedly prove a power- : ful one, resulting in effectively supplying | the bulk of the demand for British-made pencils in this country. Ths British [pencil industry is one that had tb contend against considerable foreign coumstitien

before the war, ami, there is every reason to welcome a policy that will enable it to hold its owii against a renewal of the same competition. 1 PRICE OF BREAD The Food Controller has announced that the retail prices of bread and flour will, be decontrolled on 17th October. The immediate result will be the increase in the price. As the price now ruling in London and other important centres in the country is Is per 4lb loaf, it is estimated that after October 17 a reasonable price will be -Is 3d the presen't extra charges for delivery to be added, It will be left to the public and to competition to confine the increase to the 3d referred to, but the Food Controller reserves the right, where he -is of- the opinion that the increase made is unreasonable, to reimpose maximum prices either locally or throughout the country as a whole. Inasmuch as the amount of the subsidy is based upon the total cost of the wheat purchased throughout the whole year, it is possible that any continued fall in wheat prices will permit of the subsidy being abolished by the end of the financial year without any further increase in the wholesale pHce of flour or the Tetail price of flour and bread. Bilkers and the Ministry of Food have different opinions as to what should be the price of the quartern loaf after 16th October. The trade takes the view that the minimum rate should be Is 4d, and that special circumstances would .justify an advance in some places to is 6d. It is not unlikely however, that competition will keep the new price to Is 3d or Is 3Jd at the most.

WORLD OIL-FEVER. Motor-car users have been gratified by the announcement that the price of petrol has dropped 3d per gallon. It is not very long since the price went up by 7d per gallon, so that a drop of 3d per gallon still leaves 4d of the last increase effective. In spite of this change for the better, those in a position to speak with authority consider this drop merely as a fluctuation in prices which might be expected, but on the whole the tendency is mostly in an upward direction. There are; however, prospects of a further 7d fall, when the Government removes the petrol tax. But the price of petrol in the future will be dictated by the world demand, and by such matters as the cost of freight, insurance, and distribution. Ultimately the price will be decided by the price on other prime movers, such as coal. At the moment the world has oil-fever, and is finding all manner of new uses for petroleum. That will continue until it is cheaper to utilise other sources of power, and control or restriction cannot seriously modify the movements of the market.

OIL-BURNING SHIPS. One of the most illuminating features in the late report of Lloyds Register of Shipping is the fact that ships arc being rapidly convßrted into oil-fuel burners. The last year was one of continued endeavor in all maritime countries to make good the loss of mercantile tonnage occasioned through the war, while the conversion of a very large number of vessels to burn oil fuel instead of coal had undoubtedly had the effect of limiting the output of new tonnage. The new ships classed during the year which were fitted for burning oil fuel numbered 420 vessels of 1,<195,788 tons gross, as against 211 vessels of 1,193,050 tons classed during the previous twelve months. The society's records of the world's total tonnage of 100 tons and upwards show the following approximate divisions as regards fuel:—Vessels representing 70 per cent, use coal as fuel, 10.3 per cent, are fitted to use oil as fuel for boilers, 1.7 per cent, use oil in internal combustion engines, and 0 per cent have sail power only. Since the Armistice a great development has taken place in the use of oi! engines.»During year classes have been assigned to 28 new vessels of 79,505 tons fitted with such engines as their main, propelling power, 20 of these vessels having a collective tonnage of 70,993 tons. There are at present in course of construction under the society's survey upwards of 150 sets of Diesel engines, and about the same number of sets of oil engines of other than the Diesel type, approximately half of wheh are building in the United Kigdom, In addition, oil engines are being used in large vessels as emergency sets. The changes which are being made in oil engines other than Diesel are considerable. In the different types of engines usually made the maximum cylinder pressure, ranges from 2001b to 350 lb per square inch. At present other types arc being made in which pressures of 300, 450, 485, and 5501b per square inch are to 'be employed. The success of geared steam turbines may be measured to some extent by the fact that of the total number of vessels classed during the past year no fewer than 245 of ; 1,250,04G tons, were provided with this means of propulsion.