“COULD HARM ECONOMY”

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29227, 10 June 1960, Page 16

“COULD HARM ECONOMY”

Effect Of Ban

On Prices The ban on loading out of meat for shipment overseas, if maintained for even a relatively short period, could harm New Zealand’s economy, representatives of the management of Canterbury freezing works said last evening. One spokesman said that a downward movement In the price of lamb on Smithfield of only |d to Id per lb involved tens of thousands of pounds a week. Delays in shipment of meat at this stage of the season, it was said, could result in unduly heavy weights of lamb reaching the United Kingdom market in August and September, when the Home kill was coming on the market

At present the market for lamb on Smithfield was firm and latest reports from the Imported Meat Trade Association indicated that there had been a fractional firming.

Any check to the normal flow of meat to the United Kingdom would cause a temporary shortage, with a rise in prices, and then an oversupply, particularly if the weight of meat coincided with the United Kingdom kill, and a substantial decline in prices. What was also important was that in a period of shortage in the United Kingdom consumption was lost that could not be recovered.

When a decline of id to Id per lb on Smithfield could mean the loss of tens of thousands of pounds this was no joke from a national point of view, said an industry spokesman. Continuity of supply is regarded as an essential for satisfactory marketing and anything that interrupts this flow is viewed seriously by the industry. Storage facilities are now fairly full at most works in the country but as the export killing season is almost over the position is not immediately critical, but a spokesman for one works said that with bins now three-quarters full and with killing of beef continuing there could be a certain amount of confusion in stores If the ban went on for long, and subsequently loading out would be difficult