Dairy Sales To China

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30858, 17 September 1965, Page 10

Dairy Sales To China

Sir, —Mr C. Lawford, an Auckland businessman, is obviously impressed by the vitality of the Chinese people and their potential as consumers of New Zealand primary produce. He thought the Chinese Government’s “milk-mindedness created an immediate opportunity for New Zealand dried milk.” Dare we hope that our Government will have the commercial acumen and initiative to make an immediate response to this opportunity? I recall in early 1960 preliminary discussions with the Thai Government on the establishment of a condensed milk factory in Thailand to use New Zealand dried milk and Thai sugar in locally-produced cans. Now. five years later, I believe it has been left to a Thai and a Dutchman to form and finance a company to do this. Two of their directors recently visited New Zealand (as you reported in May) to investigate supplies of milk powder. Is New Zealand supplying the milk powder or have we lost again?—Yours, etc. M. D. CRANKO. September 9, 1965. [The Dairy Production and Marketing Board comments: “Trade with China is a matter of opportunity dictated by the Government of China. All food imports are handled by a central State buying agency with which the board is in touch regularly. To the best of our knowledge, China has allocated no funds for the import of milk powder for some considerable time. With Thailand our trade is increasing. It may be of interest so far as the supply of milk solids for condensed milk manufacture is concerned, that the board will be the exclusive supplier of the dairy produce requirements of two major condensed milk recombining plants in Thailand. The Board is also providing technical assistance to both companies and is helping them in a number of other directions. The board is doing an increasing trade with other commercial users in Thailand”]