COMMERCIAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 March 1921, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

THE WOOL MARKETBy Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright. London, March 22. The Yorkshire Observer states that the new scheme of the wool conference may have effects not altogether unsatisfactory, but it attacks the problem from the wrong end and in an artificial manner which does nothing to remove the basic cause of the lowering of wool values. The crux of the problem is that wool is not going into consumption sufficiently quickly, and until that is remedied nothing sound will have been accomplished. A mere holding policy will only aggravate tlie problems. The Yorkshire Post says that many wool users in the West Riding express the opinion that the British-Australasian Wool Realisation Association's policy of trying to let sellers dictate prices has already failed. The Australians shared in the boom, and they cannot tope to escape part of the loss due to the slump. There is need for regulating the flow of wool to the market, but that is vastly different to attempting to set up sellers of raw materials as dictators of wool values. The improvement must come from the consumption end. The buyer and not the seller will be the dictator of values Ln circumstances such as prevail to-day in the world’s wool trade.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. BANK OF AUSTRALASIA. London, March 22. The Bank of Australasia stows a profit for the year of £700,874. CANTERBURY GRAIN MARKET. Christchurch, March 22. A local grain merchant with over 40 years’ experience of the trade in Canterbury, says that he has never known business so stagnant as at present. No matter tow depressed matters have been in the past at various times, he says, something was doing. Today, however, such Is not the case. Merchants are not doing business speculatively, and their offers, if any, are such that farmers are not disposed to consider them. This summing up applies fairly generally. Oats ha.<e further weakened. Any business from the north seems to be going to Southland, where farmers are accepting from Is 6d to Is 7d at country stations for A grade Gartons. This low price has naturally affected operations here. Potatoes are worth £4 per ton at country stations for immediate delivery, and about 10s less for April-May -delivery. Onions are lower, and for all classes of seeds there is a general lack of demand.