FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 49, 26 February 1916, Page 8

FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

OIPOBTAWCE IN WAR TIMES. * BEVIEW FOR 1915* OUTLOOK FOR PRESENT lEAKj~ TEe annual review, of the frozen meat radc for 1915, just is3ued by W. Wedddl >nd Co., Ltd., London, contains some in- '■% cresting facts pointing to the import-- ?\ tnce of that industry in time of war. . The.review starts off with the stateoent that-1915 was an altogether abnor- ■ nal year, not so much in, respect of the , 'dlume of importations, or the range o* )rices, or the opening up of new marcete arid new sources of supply, although hese were all noteworthy, as because'; : 'i iractically the whole trade, almost alone : imongst the trades of the country, was T ;. aken out of commercial hands and put ' inder official control. Reference is then | j nade to the requisitioning of the outrats from Australia and New Zealand, tnd the commandeering of the British ■efrigerated mercantile marine having •esulted in effectually securing control of ':_'■{ ;he foreign supplies. This was done rith the view of guaranteeing the neces- > lary supplies, not only for the British. V ? inny and general public," but also, for;he French and Italian armies. Existing jontracts had to be left unfilled or were -. inceremoniously cancelled. The estab- . ished modes of buying and of selling s-ere entirely altered; freedom of Tact ceased to exiet; and at every stage . ;he industry became regulated and con- : ;rolled at the will of the authorities, un- ■; Tammelled by any ordinary considers*, ;ions of loss or profit. DEMAND FOX TTTF. CONTINENT. The Continent played a very mucK nore important part than usual in the pear's'trade, as the quantities directed :-t to France and Italy are estimated to lave amonnted to ■ over 150,000 tons, igainst an estimated total of only ;.: 26,210 tons in 1914. Inasmuch as almost the whole of this meat was need for the armies on active service, it is manifest that frozen, meat must have i secured a first-class advertisement, not inly in France and Italy, but in other ;i countries where hitherto it - had. been W£ sractically unknown. One of : the first results of this development was an. im--tnediate demand for. cold stores on the" f Continent, in order to handle the new '3 lommodity satisfactorily; and the lesson ft is hardly likely to be thrown away entirely, even in countries where, refrigera- : tion hitherto has been considered to be juite unnecessary in connection with the : 7 food supply. FROZEN MEAT The total receipts of ali kinds of frozen / and chilled meat in- 1915.amounted 'to ./ 1564,508 tons, as against 694,427 tons in v 1914, and 720,257 tons in 1913. The '■ S Board of Trade valuation of these arri- ' .■'[ rals was £39,671,913 in 1915, as compared-'-: srlth £30,059,527 in 1914,, and £26,648,161 in 1913. From these .figures it .will be ;:■; ; 3een that'while the quantities last year : fell short of the prcvioua. yearly only i.31 per cent, the valuation made time of arrival increased by about 33': per cent. . §1 ■ { The average prices current on Smith- , veld market in 1915 show an increase of ■£■ over 40 per cent, since the outbreak of 'ife expcrrt outputs frozen. % and chilled beef, mutton and lamb in ;| 1915 is estimated £.t 552,658 tons, com- &£ pared with. 800,413 tons in 1814, and ■i* •/G7-,3ll'tons' in li) 13. ";; "■"'' : - • NEW ZEALAND CONTJJffiTJTIOIsS. Many of the freezing wofke in Sew Zealand and Australia added to their freezing and storage capacity during the past year, and in New - Zealand there are : 12 new works either in course of erection or in-contemplation. In Australia, ar- '•_■'■ rangements have been made "for the con- % struction of new works. In spite of the drought and the heavily j; increased export •of mutton' and lamb, / ..; the number of sheep in.the Dominion last April, ias compared with the pre- : . vious year, marked, an increase from 24,798,763 to but an examinatfon .of the returns shows a regrettable ; :f shrinkage- in the number of breeding f; owes, amounting to nearly 350,000 head! .■,'-.- :,- ---lt x is impossible to say to what extent : the herds of New Zealand have suffered . through the abnormally heavy export of beef outbreak'of war," as there: '; has been no census of cattle since the ; ; year 1911, the number at that date being : 2,020,171 head. The.demand led to the definite coin-' mencement .of building operations in : con-; '.: nection with no fewer than nine new ; works, while three more are in cdntem-.;..'.. plation. These will bring the total iram--ber of works in New. Zealand up to over * 40. : \ .' - i' • PROSPEC7TS. : ■ : !||| ■ Underneathi all tKe war which render any ordinary market fore-.: cast-impossible there remains the-intrin-sically sound statistical' position which .;-:-: was developing steadily for a year or two before the war broke out. Normal.con- '■ sumption had overtaken normal That position is to-day unaltered, if in"deed it has not become accentuated. AIL the markets existing when'the war broke •, out remain intact; and it is almost certain that additional markets are beihg> ;j ; created by the war in France, Belgium, landltaly. ; -. ;" ' - ' ; The splendid services rendered by the :;, i British Navy in keeping open the high ' :; the continuance of full im- ..;: iports; but the requirements of the army.;i iwill still demand the first consideration- '.! jof the Government; and the course of ?$ j prices " in- the .markets of the . United jjjl I Kingdom must be largely- controlled by 1 the proportion of the imports finailyre-jj leased for civilian consumption.. -> ; r '.'-;.