WHY SUGAR IS DEARER.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 81, 5 April 1923, Page 10

WHY SUGAR IS DEARER.

MR. MASSEY EXPLAINS. I'AILURE OF FIJIAN CROP. ißy 1 el.-gr.ipb. - Press Association.! WELLINGTON', Wednesday. Referring to the necessity for an in - creased price, of sugar, tho .Minister of Industries and Commerce tMr. Massey) staled to-day that the increase ~f a far Ihing a pound was due to failure of the Fijian crop and to mi abnormally heavy demand ...i supplies at < iiolsoii works during the jn in -cum.n. During the pa«l three months just under SIMM) tons over and above the quantity s,,|ri j n a similar period las:, year had been distributed for consumption. Deliveries for the jam season constituted a record fur the past twelve years. At the commencement of 'lie la in season the I li.vcruniciit had fiSfln tens of reiinod sugar in stock at Chelsea. That quantity had all gone into consumption, and. but for t'no fact that the "melt" had been increased by 200 tons per neck, serious inconvenience to householders would have resulted. The Government bad made every i ll'oil t.i ensure that all requirements were lullv supplied, and ~nly during the past month Jin il ii been necessary to place any restriction mi orders from merihants. I ~i si,in,- time the Government •.id been aide, by arrangements made, to supply tl'e best refined siirjar at a cheap rate, hut recent conditions in l-'iji, coupled with shipping troubles and merchants replenishing their stocks. bad been the cause nf a partial breakdown in those arrangements, and the Oove.ru-! nicnl had had to supplement short Fijian supplies by importing sugar from Java. It will be necessary to put this Java i sugar through a further refining process at. Chelsea. Manufacturers particularly | to their requirements, and it. is the | desire of the Government, in placing! this sugar on the market, that it shall j be of the same degree of purity as I t'olnnia] IA. When the Government j decided to purchase .lava sugar prices] nere considerably lower than those | ruling al present, and. accordingly, it I will only bo necessary to increase' the present price by til per pound, although, I on the btisis of the Javan price current, 1 to-day, an increase of id per pound would be warranted. Xow Zealand conKilmers sfill have advantage in the! matter of cheap sugar, as the retail: price in Groat Britain is Rd. and j„ Australia 5.1 ,«-r lb., as compared with the now price i t , N ew Zealand, to be operative as from yesterday, of 4d a lb. Mr. Massey added he could assure the public that the arrangements now made by tho Government would enable adequate supplies of sugar to be avail- j able until the new season's crop from 1-iji was ready, so that there was no fear of a shortage. i