FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16408, 31 December 1918, Page 7

FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

REDUCED PRICES TO FARMERS

REVIEW OF THE POSITION

(special to "the press.") WELLINGTON, December 30. Some of the farmers in the Wellington district are complaining about the rices being offered by the freezing companies' buyers for the season just opening. M API* 531 " 9 "the oompanies have reduced the prices to bo offeretl -for most classes of meat about oneeighth of a penny. Less is being offered " fo r wether mutton, and the reduction j s greater for ewe mutton and lamb. The Gear Company, tho biggest company in the district, has not yet fised prices definitely, and until it does so it innv be impossible to say with any certainty what the prices for the season Trill be. It is admitted by the companies that this reduction in prices is being made, and for reasons which are serions enough. First of all. the costs of operating have increased considerably, wages have risen, coal is dea r and the supply precarious, and most of the works" have erected additional storage, which will not be neccssary after trade has once more become normal. In addition, the companies are faced with uncertainty as to the markets for their most important by-products—tallow and' pelts. It is known that the pelt market has gono to smash in America since the armistice was signed, and in England there has also been a slump. The price for pelts will steady soon, but the war values are not at all likely to be maintained. There are about 30,000 tons of tallow in the oountry at present, and still there is no news of any great quantity being shipped immediately . Even if the price were to bo maintained, the loss in charges incurred by the companies on bo much tallow would, it is urged, be sufficient to warrant a reduction in the prices to be offered no_w to the grower, but there is no certainty that the war priccs will be maintained; it is expected that they will drop considerably. It is. well known that during the "war the high price of tallow has been due to the need for glycerine. Before the war glycerine was a -by-product of eoap: in war time glycerine has been the principal product. Canada and America will not take the tallow. The meat trust has tallow for sale, and it has money and influence in America. In any case it is believed by the export people here that it was the influence ofvthe trust which prevented the Canadian Government from allowing New Zealand tallow to come into that country. But most important of all the reasons which made reduced prices certain this year is that the output from the works must bo smaller. The season opened in 1916 with empty stores; in 1917 the stores were almost empty; this year they are about three-quarters full. With the shipping in sight it will not be possible for the companies to go on at the usual rate for very long. It has happened in other seasons that * the keen competition has forced prices up above the rates offered at tlie beginning of the season. This waß particularly so in this island. When the New Zealand Refrigerating Company opened at Wanganui, the new company had to buy its footing. There will be-no keen competition for stock this year; the worlds do not want meat early in the. season. Much has been said about the great numbers of ships to come here in 'the /'near future. The Devon, which is n'ow on the coast, but which has not yet begun to load, was announced here as a November ship. Tho experience of past years has been that ships do not arrive until months after due "date, and the big fleet of which so much has been said, and of -which-•so-much is expected,', will not be • able to give relief to the crowded stores until April at the earliest, and the worst of the crush will be at the end of February.

PROPOSED NEW SCHEME OF PURCHASE. VIEWS OP CANTERBURY EXPORTERS. Exporters of frozen meat have received from the Hon. D. H. Guthrie, Act-ing-Minister-in-Charge of the Department of Imperial Supplies, a communication setting ou~ a proposed new scheme in connexion with the disposal of the Dominion's output of frozen meat. The arrangement at present in force providing for the purchase by the Imperial authorities of the output, expires three months after the end of the War, and eo far no official announcement has been made as to whether or not this arrangement will be extended. The new scheme, which is outlined in a cable message from the High Commissioner, will, if adopted, place meat producers in the British Empire at -a great advantage over their foreign rivals. I he Minister, in his communication to exporters, asks them to furnish him with their views on the proposed new scheme, which is as follows: — . The Australasian Section of the Incorporated Society of Meat Importers .have requested me to telegraph you giving details of proposals which tney are placing before the Imperial Government, ancl they request that such proposals should bo submitted to producers with a ?iew to ascertaining whether they meet with their approval. They contend that tlio action suggested should reduce the menace of the trust: (1) Contracts to be made between the Imperial Government and meat works in various parts of the world, ensuring shipment to Great Britain of & stipulated percentage of outputs. This is 75 per cent, in the case, of the Empire, and 60 per cent, in the case of Britishrowned foreign meats. The Imperial Governmsnt is not purchasing meat, but is paying subsidies to producers of a Jd Bnd Ja per lb respectively. No subsidy is to b«» given in the case of. any foreign-owned meat (2) All mea*. is,to be consigned and hanaled by a member or members of an association of British importers, consisting of those British firms which operated prior to 1914, and have since been nominated, and also of anjr_ other approved British firm, and which will be responsible for the collection and distribution of the subsidy. (3) Dumping is to b© prevented by the Imperial Government purchasing at current rates any foreign moat sold continually at less than cost. (4) There is to be a general Government supervision, but an individual freedom of action will bo retained by «ach member of the association and selling and divisions are not to be interfered with, members boing at liberty as before, to undertake c.i.f. or consignment business. Local exporUrs of frozen meat express the opinion that if some form of open market, 6uch as is suggested in the above cable, message, is provided, it is probable that much higher prices than are being obtained under the present arrongement would be likely to rule, due to the demand for food for famine-stricken Europe. Despite the absence of several matters of detail in connexion with the proposed scheme some exporters are v inclined to favour it as being likely to bo more satisfactory than the existing arrangement. Some time ago the freezing companies asked that the present arrangement should be extended to June, 1920, but as no has been received it is surmised tnac th» Imperial authorities are not keen to

continue the arrangement. It is con8j er unlikely that the new scheme, if adopted, would operato during the season which is now opening, and which terminates about the middle of next year, as it is not thought that the final peace terms will be settled much before the.end of April. The overseas shipping position is still considered to be not yet quite on a satisfactory basis, dospite statements regarding the tonnage to be made available. It is pointed out that under conditions approaching those existing in pre-war times, it would take a year at least to transport tho carcases at present in 6tore.