Big mutton deal being negotiated

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33577, 4 July 1974, Page 16

Big mutton deal being negotiated

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, July 3. The Soviet Union was negotiating to buy about 40,000 tons of New Zealand mutton, authoritative sources said in Wellington tonight.

The deal, which is expected to be completed tomorrow or within the next few days, will take most of the unsold mutton in cool stores throughout the country.

The sale would leave only a few thousand tons of mutton in store, said the sources. The contract, worth millions of dollars, was being negotiated between officials of the Russian Embassy in Wellington and representatives of Amalgamated Marketing, Ltd, an Auckland trading firm.

The chairman of the Meat Board (Mr C. Hilgendorf) said tonight that he could not say which country was involved, but negotiations

had begun for the sale of a large amount of mutton. “We hope the deal will be concluded successfully," he said, adding that the Meat Board was not actively involved.

The absence of Japanese buying on the New Zealand mutton market in recent months is the reason given for the build-up of the meat in cool stores.

From the beginning of the present season, last October, urttil the end of April the Japanese have bought only 30,000 tons of mutton, about 40 per cent of what they normally take. “We have done no business with the Japanese for weeks," the sources said, adding that Japan’s present economic climate might have contributed to the decline in purchases. HOLDING OFF? “But it is more likely the Japanse have, been holding off in the hope of a lower price. They know the meat is here, and that it has got to be sold. They may have been aiming to make a late plunge and buy it up at a cheaper rate,” said the sources.

The Soviet Union last bought substantial quantities of mutton from New Zealand in the 1970-71 season. It has entered the market only when it suited, and when prices were right. The sources said the reasons for the sale of mutton to Russia were probably a shortfall in domestic production and the fact that imported meat was relatively cheap at present.

Athletics.—A national five-star athletics award scheme is to be introduced into secondary schools next year. Under it, pupils will get a certificate or badge for the level of attainment reached in a particular event.