High costs depress lamb price

Press, 30 January 1981, Page 2

High costs depress lamb price

High costs were the cause of farmers not getting what! they considered an adequate! return for lambs, . said the I chairman of the Meat! Exporters’ Council, Mr P. T. Norman, yesterday.

Mr Norman was explaining why exporters had not yet increased lamb prices to farmers after the recent improvement on the British market.

Mr Norman said that farmers’ concern that prices had not increased was understandable, but the reason farmers were not receiving more was because of. costs rather than market re-| alisations. It was essential, that inflation in New Zealand was reduced to levels lower than in the main Northern Hemisphere economies.

The improvement in prices for lamb in Britain also followed a prolonged period of low prices, Mr Norman said, and it had been difficult enough for exporters to maintain the price schedule at 113 c per kilogram for PM grade lamb, the floor or minimum price, in spite Of the help from markets such as Iran and Iraq.

It was only now that the United Kingdom market was beginning to approach satisfactory prices, and it was! ironic that just as this ma.--! ket appeared to be coming right something occurred, such as the present strike of British seamen, to distort the carefully constructed marketing plan of exporters and the Meat Board. The seamen’s strike, which was holding up New Zealand lamb shipments to several markets, was causing exporters to be cautious. Another disappointing aspect for both farmers and the industry, according to Mr Norman, was the low value of pelts. This was a big factor in a low skin schedule.

“We can but hope that tanners will soon be able to pay more for pelts, which for some grades are as low as they have been for 10 years,” Mr Norman said. A woolly lamb skin with a kilogram of wool on it is now returning to the farmer 82c. At the beginning of last year the price for it was! 485 c.