Shipping Plan Ineffective, Says N.Z. Refrig.

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32232, 26 February 1970, Page 14

Shipping Plan Ineffective, Says N.Z. Refrig.

In the opinion of the directors of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, Ltd, the national plan for early shipments of the Meat Producers’ Board has not produced the results expected. Bunched aiTivals in the United Kingdom are again occurring.

The company’s chairman (Mr C. S. Peate) said this in his address to shareholders at the annual meeting yesterday. .

Mr Peate said that one cause might be that with New Zealand loading techniques, particularly at Timaru and Bluff, vessels could be loaded faster than British ports could discharge them. He said: “The difficulties of arranging shipping months ahead of loading are fully appreciated, but some greater flexibility is necessary if supplies to the market are to be controlled to meet the market’s requirements. “In spite of the rigidly controlled and carefully designed jver-all shipping plan of the Board, the seasonal price slide in Britain has not been ivoided—indeed this year it las come much earlier than isual, and the downward rend has been more rapid. “At the end of January irices in main grades were !}d to 3Jd below those ruling [a year earlier, and from 31 d to sld below the peak in 'September, 1969. These fluctuations have occurred before and doubtless will do so again.

“Other factors contributing to the price fall were:— “Heavier arrivals from New Zealand on top of the United Kingdom in-store stocks of old season’s lamb.

1 “Increased shipments from Australia and from Iceland. The quality of the Icelandic lamb has steadily improved in recent years. “An unexpected run of homekilled lamb. “We do, however, expect from mid-January, that meat prices generally throughout the year in Britain will be higher than those of several years ago, but may not reach the high peak of last year,” he said.

In an effort to spread the kill over a longer period and thus make better use of facilities, exporters encouraged earlier killing by offering processing rebates and/or early lamb premiums in the buying structure. For its part, the Meat Board, which controlled our shipping freight allocations, arranged for early loadings to clear this meat promptly and have it delivered in the United Kingdom to meet the supposed premium market for Christmas and early January. The theory that there was a strong demand in United Kingdom for lamb at Christmas was today not borne out

by fact—-“indeed, we have noted for a number of years that consumption of lamb at Christmas actually declines, its place being taken- by poultry, usually turkey. “In my review 1 mentioned the buyer resistance to the high prices ruling last year. The result was a much larger stock of lamb in store in Britain at the end of December than there had been a year earlier. “At the end of January, 1970, the quantity was exactly four times as great as it was a year earlier, and consequently our early shipments of new season’s lamb have not made the prices some people expected.

“This was particularly so in relation to the light weight carcases and we have had the unusual situation of lambs in the weight range of 201 b to 361 b all selling at the one price,’’ he said. “With the early lamb price incentive and the disastrous drought in the South Island extending from North Otago to Marlborough, the lamb kill in those areas was by the end of November, 38,000 head greater than in 1968. "Sheep killings, too, showed an increase of 24,500 head, being mainly cull ewes which came forward earlier than usual as farmers endeavoured to conserve the meagre feed supplies. “By the end of January the position had been seriously reversed, with the South Island lamb kill being then 260,000 head below the kill at January 31, 1969. The pressure to kill sheep had kept up and killings were J. 46,000 ahead of the previous year," said Mr Peate. Metals

(N Z Press Assn —( opurfaht» LONDON, Feb. 23. £ Silvers a ion £ Sellers a ton Copper 688.00 690.00 Tin .. 1551.00 1552.00 Lead 143.00 143.25 Zinc . . 123.50 124.00