N.Z. EXPORTS TO DOLLAR AREA

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27444, 2 September 1954, Page 12

N.Z. EXPORTS TO DOLLAR AREA

PROSPECTS ASSESSED “The restrictions imposed by the United States on imports of primary produce continue to prevent access to that market for any significant quantity of these New Zealand exports,” says the annual report of the Department of Industries and Commerce in a. section in which market prospects /or New Zealand exports are assessed. “The position is much the same in Canada, which is faced with problems in the disposal of its own production surpluses,” the report says. The development of Eastern markets for dairy products has been hindered by strong price competition with other countries. “The re-entry of the U.S.S.R. into the market for dairy produce will be watched with great interest,” says the report. “The huge United States surpluses of dairy products and the possibility that they may be disposed of in part to other countries can only have a depressing effect on the market. A reduction in the world price of butter may not be an entirely unfavourable development as, while it would mean an immediate drop in income to the producers, it would improve the competitive position of butter in relation to margarine. A question for consideration is whether the present high price of butter is having the effect of consolidating the position of margarine in traditional markets for butter. . . .

“The markets of the United States and Canada offer some prospects for New Zealand frozen meats, and small shipments made to Canada during the period of seasonal shortages may develop into worth-while trade with the development of Canada’s industrial economy,” the report says. “There are other markets, especially in Asia, which offer some prospects of expanding trade in meat in response to trade promotion activity, although here again the long-term development of these countries is the key to substantial increases in demand.”