Higher butter quota unlikely

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32521, 3 February 1971, Page 1

Higher butter quota unlikely

(From GARY ARTHUR, London correspondent of “The Press")

LONDON, February 2. Talks are expected to begin Within the next 10 days between Britain and her suppliers on butter quotas for the next importing year.

A steep decline in the level of Danish butter production has created a situation where New Zealand could probably press successfully to increase its share of the 425,000 ton British market if it wanted to.

But because of considerations of price, New Zealand may not want to supply much more than the minimum 170,000 tons to which it is legally entiled. Difficuties of supply caused by Denmark’s lower output and droughts in Australia and New Zealand have pushed the price of New Zealand butter up 4d a pound in the last 12 months, and it is considered likely that New Zealand would rather keep that price firm than jeopardise it by any tendency to

oversupply. For that reason it is likely that New Zealand’s negotiators will press for no more than the 176,000-ton level of the present year’s quota. Already it seems that this year’s quota may not be supplied by the end of March. New Zealand bulk is being snapped up as fast it is released and blenders have been forced to pay high prices for Polish, Finnish and Canadian butter included in the extra 12,000 tons which the Board of Trade authorised for imporation last month. That was the second call for extra supplies. In Nov-

ember imporation of another 5000 tons was authorised from Ireland and Europe, and the total shortage on quotas for the year is estimated to be 38,000 tons—more than the total quota for Ireland. There is talk in the trade of even more butter to be imported in excess of existing quotas, and also some suggestion of an impending price increase. - Butter stocks held in store have improved slightly, but are still very low 20,200 tons at January 15, compared with more than twice as much (41,800 tons) at the same date last year.