PRODUCE & MARKET REPORTS FROM DAY TO DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 150, 21 December 1929, Page 12

PRODUCE & MARKET REPORTS FROM DAY TO DAY

AUSTRALIAN OUTLOOK

"AS. A BANK SEES IT

PRODUCTION PROSPECTS

BETTER

"Evening Post," 21st December. The National Bank of Australasia, in its review oi trade, finance, and commerce, reports that as. the result of exceptionally cool weather, and useful rains, the estimated wheat yield of Australia has advanced to over 105,000,000 bushels; but- ; ter outputs have expanded; fruit prospects appear satisfactory; irrigation areas in good order; and throughout the ; farming districts contritions are favourable for the growth of summer fodder crops. f ■ The season has turned out better than appeared likely a month or two ago, \. : and its results indicate to some extent the. advances made in Australian farming practice during recent years, aud the value of irrigation during droughty spells. To a large degree the present conditions are due to the late advent . of summer, but the prospective fair wheat yield in a year of markedly deficient rainfall represents what may be classed as a victory in many areas for ■! our. .farmers over decidedly adverse con- ! ditions. ': Estimates of the wool clip have been ; reconsidered, and the earlier figures have i not been reduced. Auctions have proceed- ; ed in all centres on the basis of reduced offerings, and the higher price levels have been maintained. TRADE IS DEPRESSED. Favourable production prospects, however, are offset by lower ranges of prices for export. The depressed condition of ' trade continues with but little alteration, the depression being most marked rela--1 tively in South Australia, and least in Western Australia, where a record har- ; vest is in prospect, and will tend to mitigate the fall in the value of wool. : Unemployment is reported by the Bank ' as "severe," but the" general increases in the Customs tariff are expected to lead : to greater industrial expansion of second- :' : ary. industries. The soft goods -warehouses of Melbourne i and Sydney report very slow business in .-■ summer fabrics and fashion goods, attri- , butable to dislocation of the summer trade •': by unseasonable weather-and reduced pur-' chasing power, in rural districts and ia .':• urban areas. The political unsettlement ; due .to Federal elections and to State : elections in Victoria is also a factor in restricted trade. TRADE WITH BRITAIN. ■!■ The National Bank in reviewing Stock ■ ' Exchange operations for November, states that improvements on the market : followed immediately on the anonunce- = ment of the tariff on 21st November, but .;' a large part of the gains were lost within a few days, when further examination of the new duties led to a realisation that it was at least doubtful i whether the advantages to local industries conferred by the revised schedules t ■would be beneficial to the economic situa- :. tion of the country as a' whole. "Many : questions, not only national in their scope, are involved," states the bank, "and the ; influence of some of- the newor increased duties on our overseas trade may pos- > sibly be adverse. Not only is there some i • danger to the preferences granted to Aus- \ tralian goods by Great Britain, there is s also the fact that the position of 'AusI tralia as a borrower may be injuriously ; affected.

"It is true that the substantial preferences allowed on British as compared with foreign goods have been maintained, but the increase in the rates places English manufacturers in a more unfavourable position compared with Australian makers of goods, without improving their capacity to compete on this market with foreign suppliers." IN NEW ZEALAND. The National' Bank correspondent in New Zealand reports that the Dominion Government claims to have fulfilled its pledge regarding the finding of employment for men out of work, "but it is felt that the measures adopted are only palliatives and that the problem has lot been solved and will again become acute as the various public works on which the men are engaged are completed."