Skin pools change

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33513, 19 April 1974, Page 9

Skin pools change

There has been a change in the operation of the New Zealand skin pools. Farmers have now taken over the whole enterprise.

In a recent statement

setting out the new arrangements, the chairman of a newly registered company. New Zealand Skin Pool Co-operative, Ltd. Mr B. H. Palmer, said that last October A. S. Paterson and Company, Ltd. had advised that it was not prepared to continue to provide a dried sheep skin export pool for farmers.

At that stage a group of farmers had decided to float a company to continue the operation with a capital of $lOO,OOO to be used to purchase the land and build-

ings of A. S. Paterson and Company in Moorhouse Avenue. Christchurch, consisting of a store and office. A tenancy had also been arranged of premises in Napier where the pool previously operated. The objective was also to take over the staff of Patersons and also the overseas contacts of the company, including a particularly important one in France. The company had subsequently been floated and had about 400 farmer shareholders. Mr Palmer said that the new company would be a users’ company and apart from the farmer shareholders in the company receiving a fair commercial return on their capital contributions, all other money generated by the business would be returned to the users.

The aim of the company was to provide competition in the purchase and marketing of sheep skins. The dried sheep skin trade would now be in the hands of two main exporters and one of these was their company. Mr Palmer said that the company had recently been operating on a rising market for its products. The supervisors have recently announced a 60 per cent bonus payment to all suppliers of the first pool conducted by the new company. It covered the period from December 1 to the end of February. At the time that the schedule was set for this pool, however, overseas skin prices were depressed and the supervisors say that obviously the company was cautious in setting its initial advance payments.