MEAT EXPORT KILLINGS

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27738, 16 August 1955, Page 14

MEAT EXPORT KILLINGS

SHARP INCREASE ON LAST SEASON REFLECTION OF BIGGER FLOCKS AND HERDS (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, August 15. Killings of meat for export for the 1954-55 season are approximately 36,000 tons above those for the same period of the previous season, states the annual review of the sheep industry prepared by the Economic Section of the New Zealand Meat and Wool Boards. “This is roughly an 11 per cent, increase,” states the review, “and there is no reason to believe that the rate of increase will diminish during the remainder of the current season. Lambs, wethers, and chiller beef account for the bulk of the increase. The ewe mutton kill is approximately the same as last season, and the slight reduction in ox and heifer quarter beef is more than offset by the expansion of the trade in chilled beef. “The total weight of all meat to July 2 is 365,000 tons, compared with 329,000 tons to the same date in 1954. These figures reflect the substantial building-up of our flocks and herds over the last few years.” In a table showing the increase in total livestock numbers from 1950 to 1954, the total sheep population of the Dominion is estimated to have increased from 33,860,000 in 1950 to 38,010,000 in 1954, the number of breeding ewes from 21,880,000 to 24,850,000, and the number of beef cattle from 2,090,000 to 2,630,000. Killings of the more important classes of export meat to the end of June last year and this year in carcases were:— 1954 1955 Lamb .. 12,458,000 13,398,000 Wether .. 727,000 1,024,000 Beef .. 83,000 78,000 Chilled beef .. 13,000 56,000 Pattern Not Yet Clear Discussing the effect of the end of rationing of meat in the United Kingdom, the review states that the market has still not fully settled into a clear pattern, but now that the large stocks of meat held by the Ministry of Food at the end of rationing have been liquidated, a steadying effect on the market may be expected, particularly in prices for frozen and chilled beef. New Zealand’s best customer this year, apart from Britain, says the review, has been Russia. Up to May 27, 7300 tons of ewe mutton had been exported to Russia, and another 2500 tons (chiefly frozen beef) have been allocated for July shipment. Some 8 per cent, of the export kill to May 28 has been exported to markets other than the United Kingdom. The principal purchasers were: Russia, 7300 tons; West Indies, 3100 tons; Canada, 3000 tons; Italy, 2600 tons; Holland, 2500 tons; Germany, 2100 tons.