LOSS OF £86,065 FOR YEAR

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25608, 24 September 1948, Page 9

LOSS OF £86,065 FOR YEAR

INTERNAL MARKETING DIVISION

EFFECT OF IMPORTATION OF EGG PULP

The loss of £86,065 for the year ended September 30, 1947, was caused by the need to import egg pulp, states the annual report of the Internal Marketing Division. The debit balance carried forward was £113,065. The gross loss on the year’s trading was £42,618.

Egg pulp was sold below cost to bakers and pastrycooks, the report says. If the pulp was sold at cost, which equalled eggs at 2s lOd a dozen, the baking industry would naturally prefer shell eggs at the lower New Zealand price. As shell egg production in New Zealand was still insufficient for ordinary household demands, it had to be conserved for that use, which meant that egg pulp had to be made available at prices related to those of fresh eggs. That was less than the cost of Australian pulp, which bore the cost of production, freight, customs duty, and landing charges, in addition to the prime cost of eggs. “The Division administers without charge regulations affecting eggs, maize, hops, and raspberries, and acts as a guarantor in respect of maize, potatoes, onions, and kauri-gum,” the report says. “The remaining direct trading functions are self-supporting, but do not provide surplus funds for the financing of the activities mentioned. The method of financing these will be considered in the next finacial year. The loss disclosed in the accounts for the year is by reason of the egg pulo importations.” The quantity, of egg pulp imported during the year, as the equivalent of dozens of eggs, was 3.085.920. compared with 1,709.670 in 1945-46. 2.662,107 in 1944-45, 2,286.732 in 1943-44, and 2,722.020 in 1942-43. It is estimated that in 1947-48 the quantity will equal 2.525.000 dozen. *