THE CANADIAN MARKET

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 59, 3 December 1941, Page 6

THE CANADIAN MARKET

In the Federal House of Representatives last week the Minister of Commerce, Mr. Scully, stated that in recent months Austrian firms had shipped between 13,000 and 14,000 carcases of lamb to Canada. The total is not large, and the .shipments may be experimental, but the fact that Australian meat is being shipped to Canada suggests possibilities for the New Zealand producer No doubt the greater part of the 275,000 tons of meat which, as the Mimste, of Marketing put it, represents “the production objective for export meat to the United Kingdom in respect of the.present season and the duration of the war and one year thereafter”. will consist of lamb, but there will be a z balance left to be dealt with under the general surpluses agreement, and sales to other markets would reduce any carryNew Zealand could, with good reason, ask for extended markets in Canada, for the balance of trade between the two countries has, for many years, been heavily in favour of the big Dominion, lhere has been an improvement of late, due to a moderate increase in our exports to Canada and a rather sharp contraction in imports from that quarter, an adverse balance of £3,427,000 in 1939 being teduced to one of £1,160,000 last year. The position with regard to meat this season is such that no effort should be spared to locate markets, provided shipping is available. There is not only the liability ttndei the surpluses agreement, shared with the British Government, but also the sole liability for any meat for export in excess of the 2/b,UW tons and the estimates are for a substantial excess on that iiguie.The’Australian trade has been transacted by private firms ,so no information is available as to the prices realized, but inquiries should be made for, with Canadian industry expanding rapidly for war purposes, a market may bfecome available for some of the meat which this country will be in a position to supply.