Lucerne exports to Asia ending

Press, 18 August 1979, Page 12

Lucerne exports to Asia ending

PA Blenheim Competition from China and the Soviet Union has made Marlborough lucerne exports unprofitable. The competition, a final blow to an already ailing industry, sounds the death-knell of the Marlborough U.E.B. Protein, Ltd, factory, according to the member of Parliament for Marlborough (Mr D. L. Kidd). The farmers who have been meeting since the Blenheim factory was closed at the end of the season were told that the overseas market for lucerne meal had closed to the local product. The farmers had studied alternatives for lucerne processing, helped by Mr Kidd. At their final meeting. Mr Kidd said competition from China and the Soviet Union has been blamed for destroying the market. The farmers say the Chinese have been undercutting competitors, and the Russians have been indirectly boosting shipping costs. U.E.B. closed down originally because high fuel costs had undermined its competitiveness on the overseas market, mainly in Japan and South-East Asia. With the aid of New Zealand trade commissioners in various overseas posts, Mr Kidd studied these marketing problems and found them insurmountable.