FINANCIAL NOTES

COIVIMODITY PRICE LEVEL FALLS

ONCE again the general level of commodity prices has broken badly, and one cannot wholly blame the fears of war for this. Certainly any uncertainties which have the effect of lowering Stock Exchange quotations or reducing the volume of business will also curb speculative activity in the commodity markets. But speculative activity in those markets was already reduced almost to a vanishing point, and the primary commodities themselves are all in greater or less degree the raw materials of war, so that effective demand should normally increase in times of fear. Nevertheless this table shows that there has been a rather sharp drop.

Price on Tuesday.

s. d. Week's Pall.

£ s. d.

Copper (cash per ton) .. • • • • 33 19 41 3 16 3 Lead ( ) • • • • • • 13

15

71 6 zoi Zinc •• •• .• . • ..

12 12

6 Nil Wheat (July per too lbs.)

• • . •

6

21

21 Cotton (July per lb.) .. . • • •

4.61 o.o6 Rubber (Spot ,, )

5 it ilr The two factors which May be chiefly blamed for the fall are the sharp cut of to per cent, in the United States copper price and the continued decline in the Buenos Aires wheat price to a level at which for the first time this season Argentine wheat became a serious competitor in world markets. The Americans have cut their copper price for internal reasons : nearly the whole of the deterioration of the copper situation since last year is believed to have occurred in the U.S.A., although the German authorities have now also decided to stop publication of their figures. Thus a new element of doubt is introduced. The reduction of Thus, Argentine wheat price means that there are at the moment three competitors, Argentine, Canada and the U.S.A. for a limited export market. Australia, India and Prussia are also in the market.