Meat export industry faces ‘very real dilemma’

Press, 6 May 1981, Page 29

Meat export industry faces ‘very real dilemma’

t'PA Masterton < New Zealand’s meat, export industry faces a “very /real dilemma” in that Middle fcEast Requirements are growling at such a rapid rate that •’^traditionalmarkets are at ■ risk of being under-supplied. jT’his fear was expressed by :(Mr Peter Norman, chairman (of the New Zealand Meat (Exporters’ council/and man- , 'aging director of Borthwicks, 'in an address to the annual

meeting of the meat and wool section of Wairarapa Federated Farmers yesterday. Mr Norman said that there has been no more dramatic move in the meat industry than the development of the Middle East market, which has increased from 300 tonnes of lamb in 1971 to more than 100,000 tonnes this season. - - . j

Last month a joint Meat Producers’/Meat Export Council delegation finalised the sale of a further 25,000 tonnes of lamb to Iran with a possible further 10 per cent at the sellers* option and this came on top of the 77,000 tonnes negotiated at the start of the season. In the same period the U.K. market dropped from 287,000 tonnes to 150,000. “That means that the U.K. tonnage, which represented 88 per cent of our total lamb exports in 1971, has dropped to 38 per cent currently and is still dropping.” Mr Norman said that provided political and economic instability did not interfere, this position should be maintained during the next four

to five years, but much would depend on whether current expansion in the sheep industry could be maintained. . The Meat Exporters’ Council policy, with support of the Meat Producers’ Board, is to consider long-term market stability ahead of short-term monetary gains. Discussing the future, Mr Norman said that all economic projections indicate that only New Zealand and Australia will have significant sheep meat surpluses to export. One report indicates that by the year 2000, present sheep meat exports from New Zealand could be signi-ficantly-expanded, with much of the increase going to oilproducing countries.