BRITISH MEAT MARKET

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27644, 28 April 1955, Page 16

BRITISH MEAT MARKET

“ALARMING FACT” DISCLOSED

REPORT TO FEDERATED FARMERS (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 27. While the congestion of the British meat market had lowered wholesale meat prices early this year, retail prices had not reflected the downward price movement, the Meat and Wool Section of Federated Farmers was told today. The section’s secretary (Mr D. L. M. Martin) said in a report that as a result an increased consumption of imported meat had not been encouraged.

He said the typical retail price ruling in Britain for a leg of imported meat between February and March was 3s s|d per lb. Over the same period ex-store prices for lamb declined from 2s 3d to Is lid per lb. The report says that supplies of imported meat on the United Kingdom market have been causing congestion since the beginning of the year. The congestion reached its peak in March. At present, total meat consumption in the United Kingdom was about 180,000 tons a month. On this basis meat produced

in the United Kingdom itself between November, 1953, and March, 1954, would have been capable of supplying about half of the total meat consumed, there.

The increased meat production in the United Kingdom between November, 1954, and March, 1955, inclusive, compared with that period the previous year, had resulted in home-produced meat now supplying about three-quarters of the total meat eaten in the United Kingdom during .that period, an increase of about 50 per cent. Mr Martin added: “This huge increase in meat production in the United Kingdom has upset the predictions of everyone in the import trade, including the Ministry of Food, which had accumulated stocks of imported meat to overcome any possible shortage during the period.” Just why British farmers had suddenly changed their normal farming practices was not known, but a likely explanation was that they did not have enough supplementary fodder to carry their stock through the winter and early spring, following the bad summer in Britain. It seemed reasonable *o expect that smaller supplies of livestock would be available for slaughtering later in the year, especially during the usual peak months for home-produced meat, July to October, inclusive.

Butchers’ ‘'Exorbitant Profits” Meanwhile, as- a result of the congestion, wholesale prices for imported beef and lamb had declined by about 3d per lb between February and March, with smaller supplies of home-produced meat, an improvement in the wholesale market was to be expected. In fact, the latest reports indicated that that movement had begun.

Mr Martin then came in his report to what he considered “the alarming fact” arising from his inquiries. It was this: “Though the wholesale prices for imported beef and lamb declined during the period of congestion, retail prices for this imported beef and lamb in no way reflected these downward movements.” This meant that the United Kingdom consumers had not benefited from the downward trend, nor had increased consumption of Imported meat been encouraged by lower wholesale prices for it. It also meant that while retail butchers in England were selling only relatively small quantities of imported meat, yet on the quantities they were selling they were making “exorbitant” profits—at the expense of the New Zealand exporter. “This undesirable state of affairs should be giving New Zealand meat producers great concern,” said the report.