Comment On Variations In Price Of Dalapon

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30803, 15 July 1965, Page 7

Comment On Variations In Price Of Dalapon

Large-scale tenders for dalapon weed spray, such as that of the North Canterbury Nassella Tussock Board, are quoted direct by overseas manufacturers, and are delivered as separate shipments, says an agricultural chemicals company, Ivon WatkinsDown, Ltd., commenting on a letter to the editor of “The Press” from “Farmer,” who wrote: —

In Friday’s Issue it was stated that the North Canterbury Nassella Tussock Board had accepted a tender for 10 tons of dalapon weed spray at 3s 3.35 d per lb, the lowest of five tenders received, the highest being 4s 6jd per lb. This is certainly a bulk order, but one can rest assured that the tenderer is still making a profit When a contractor sprays my paddocks he charges me Us per lb. When I purchase some for my own use from a stock firm I am charged 14s 6d per lb. There is no doubt that exorbitant profits are being made by the importers of dalapon and in the main it is the farmer who pays for this monopoly. This matter requires action by Federated Farmers to break this .monopoly and to secure

-.a return to fair trading. ; The company says in its r comment that New Zealand i importers , receive only a ; small commission to handle ■ the clearance charges, and , the prices quoted by the ■ overseas manufacturers vary • according to the world mari ket ‘Tast quotations have al- > ways been made on this basis because the Nassella Tussock

Board operates as a Government subsidy board, and is able to negotiate direct with overseas manufacturers,” it says. “There is no question of a monopoly, since the quotations are the subject of keen tendering. Proof of this is the difference in the prices quoted by overseas manufacturers. “‘Farmer’ quite reasonably points out that the prices were for a bulk order involving tons. As in many types of trading (even the selling of butter) the differences between bulk prices and those per lb are sharply affected by such factors as handling, servicing, packaging, and distribution, which can quickly change what appears to be an unreasonable profit into a reasonable one."