Bread, Flour Prices Up

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32274, 17 April 1970, Page 1

Bread, Flour Prices Up

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, April 16.

Bread and flour will cost more from April 20, the Minister of Indus-

tries and Commerce (Mr Shelton) t announced today. The Price Tribunal has approved an increase of $9 per ton for flour; and price-controlled bread would go up by 1c per 21b loaf or nominal 21b loaf.

There will be no I change in the retail price! of the lib loaf wrapped at the bakery, but other lib loaves would be increased by lc so as to keep them in suitable relationship with the price; of 21b loaves. Mr Shelton said that just over a year ago the price of flour had been reduced by $8 per ton. On that occasion he had announced that a surplus of income over expenditure which had accumulated in the Wheat Board’s accounts en-

labled the price of flour to be dropped to a level substantially below cost; and that this level should be maintained until early 1970, when a price rise would be required. This time had now arrived, and the approved Increase of $9 per ton was necessary for the Wheat Board to break even this year. The increased price of flour would be only $1 per ton higher than the price approved immediately after the removal of the subsidy. This represented only about a 1 per cent increase over a three-year period. Large Deficit

The increase in the price of price-controlled bread will enable bakers to recover an average of about $5 per ton more than the actual increase in price of flour. This surplus would, however, be placed to the credit of the bread price equalisation account, where it would be used gradually to liquidate the large deficit which had built up there.

The deficit had arisen because consumers had been buying price-controlled bread cheaply. Mr Shelton said that the increase in the price of flour was less than Jc per lb, and so would be a very small item in the price of most goods produced from flour—biscuits, cakes, pies and so forth. Age Benefits It was his hope, therefore, that the manufacturers of these goods would generally ; be able to absorb this small • increase. ■| Mr Shelton said that the -i recent increases in age bene- ' fits had allowed for the : present price increases in : bread and flour.