BUTTER IN LONDON.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 83, 8 April 1925, Page 9

BUTTER IN LONDON.

PRICE BELOW AUSTRALIAN. IS THERE A BOYCOTT 1 ; VIEWS OF TRADERS. The present position of Now Zealand butter on the London market is most unsatisfactory from thn producers' point of view. The latest quotation was 1(54/, us compared with 180/ for the Australian article. Heretofore New Zealand butter ranked next to Danish in price on the London market, and the • question naturally arises, What has caused Australian rates to advance above those oflVred for 'that produced in the Dominion? A good deal has been published in New Zealand about controlling the price at which the butter is sold in London, though mos tbusiness men arc of opinion that this can alone be done by the law of supply and demand. It would almost seem, however, as if the tnlk of fixing the prbe at which New Zealand butter is to be sold in London, has resulted in a movement over there in the direction of boycotting the butter from the Dominion ami paying higher prices for that sent from Australian. In order to get information on-the subject, a representative of the "Auckland Star" made some inquiries in commercial circles. One of those interviewed who is not interested in the export of produce, remarked that when the Dairy Control Board tried to set itself against shipping companies, it had to deal with some of the smartest brains in the world. "A reduction of sixpence a box in freight," he said, "seems a lot, but really the point is to get more regular shipments sent to London, and not such large lots of butter dumped on the market at o:;e time. I don't deal in produce as you know. Imt it requires little commercial experience to learn that heavy supplies arriving together always mean lower prices till the increased consumption has cleared away the glut on the market.' . An Exporter's View. An exporter of dairy produce was next seen. The question submitted was: "Why is it that New Zealand butter is quoted at lower prices in London than the Australian article?" "To my mind," he replied, "the reason is quite obvious in the cabled report that the trade generally is not interested in New Zealand butter." "Yes, but just what docs that mean?"' "Well, it may mean anything, 1 suppose, but, I take it, that the London dealers in butter are leaving our New Zealand product severely alone. You see the people of England are great free traders, and as soon as they learned that our butter was likely to be tied by Die Dairy Control Board, they would at once jump to the conclusion that the aim was to increase the cost to the consumer. lam not merely guessing at what 'the trade not being interested , means. When this Dairy Control Bill was first mooted, the Blackpool Grocers' Association, which has 000 members, decided that if anything like fixing prices on the London market was attempted, then Xew Zealand butter would be boycotted. It looks to mc as if that nas already started, when you see Australian butter quoted higher than that cent from Xew Zealand. Stocks of Australian butter are not light in London at the present time, so that is not the cause of the higher prices paid." "At all events the board did get a reduction of sixpence per box in freights, which saved £120,000." "It would have been better policy to arrange with shipping companies to regulate steamers so that supplies do not reach London so closely together. Something like 19,000 tons of our butter will reach London this month, instead of shipments being regulated to meet the requirements of the market. .Another point is that there is too much loss of time in steamers going from port to port in Xew Zealand picking up a cargo. The result is that sometimes the butter does not reach London until four or five months after it is-made here. I know of one steamer that was 78 days on the New Zealand -?o.ist. She visited no less than eleven ports for 0000 tons of produce and general cargo. It means a big waste, when a steamer is delaj'ed so long picking up cargo at a cost of £300 per day. And all the while the market at Home is fluctuating." "Is there no remedy for such delays in getting cargo?" "Of course there is, but the trouble is to get it adopted. It must be recostnised that there is no chance of much reduction in freights if steamers have to dawdle round the coast to eleven ports picking up a cargo. If the butter was sent to say, three or four ports for shipment, then the steamers could make three trips in the time now required for two. The only way in which a more regular price may be secured for Xew Zealand produce in London, is to regulate shipments. For instance, in February, 11)24, no lets than 11,200 tons of Xew Zealand cheese reached England. That was one-sixth of the whole output of the Dominion, and yet it was all dumped on the London market within 28 days. It is the same with butter this season. W*£h a consumption of 20,000 tons, the arrivals have been 33,000 tons. That means a lot of butter going into stores, which is all that can be done when arrivals are in excess of the demand, and the fact that it is ready to go on the market keeps prices down." "Then it would appear the Board of Control would do well if it regulated shipments from this end?" "It would be. easier to do that than to regulate prices in London, by storing the butter after arrival. "There is also another point to which the attention of dairymen requires to be frequently called. That is improving the butterfat production per cow. Latterly more attention has been paid to grading the herds, but the fact remains that the average per cow in Xew Zealand is 1701b as against 270 in Denmark. That represents an immense loss of possible profit. It takes just as much to feed a cow that only givos a poor average of butterfat. as it does the one giving a big return. Tt would mean a big thing for Xew Zealand if the butterfat returns from the dairy herds was raised to the average of 'ho Danish ones. There is another point regarding selling Xew Zealand butter in London. While it should !>o marked 'made in Xew Zealand,' it ought not all to be of one brand. Different makes of butter have different characteristics, therefore it is unwise to hide all under one brand."