SUGAR PRICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 225, 22 September 1932, Page 7

SUGAR PRICES.

TEEMS OF AGREEMENT. CANBERRA, September 21. The Prime Minister, Mr. J. A. Lyons, in announcing the terms of the new sugar agreement in the House of Representatives, said the retail price of sugar, which was to be reduced one halfpenny to 4d a lb from January 1, would save housewives £1,000,000 a year and manufacturers about £300,000. There would also be an automatic reduction in the special contribution by the sugar industry to the fruit industry. The reduction, which is to operate from January 1, 1933, to August 31, 1930—with the Commonwealth in the position of being, able to review the situation after September 1, 1934—was agreed upon at a conference at the beginning of this month at Canberra, between members of the Federal Cabinet and representatives of the sugar industry. Though the full details of the agreement have yet to be worked out, it is stated that the reduction means a drop from £27 to £24 a ton for raw sugar, the loss of £3 being borne by growers and millers. A saving of about 13/ a ton is expected under the heading of concessions to manufacturers, fruitgrowers and processors. The amount to be distributed under the fruit benefit fund depends upou the quantity available for processing. It is impossible to give exact figures, but probably it will be somewhere between £150,000 and £200,000.