EXPORT OF WHEAT

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 151, 23 December 1921, Page 4

EXPORT OF WHEAT

EFFECT ON THE PRICE OF BREAD THE WORLD'S MARKET. Great interest was attached by merchants seen by The Post to-day to the proposed export .of 3,000,000 bushels of wheat from the Dominion. v The information contained in a press message from Christchurch published yesterday Was to. "the effect' th'at s the Minister' of Agriculture (Hon Vfilliam Nosworthy) Vhad .completed arrangements fpr the export!of the above quantity, of new season's grani. ; Thp questions the merchants asked were^(l) Where is this \yheat going anc[ (2) what is tire'price expected for it. The questions wpre regarded as: being of the utmost importance to every member of the cbmmiinity-^-excepting wheat-grow-ers,' who are guaranteed their prices. It was pointed out to The Pos^" that the price of wheat free, oh board American and Canadian ports of shipment.was to--day in the vicinity of a dollar, say. 4s lOd in sterling. The harvests of Northern Europe (excepting Russia, of which nothing' w«is known)[were" extraordinarily abundant, thusv bringing down J&perican aJrid. C-pa^iaiJ wheat values, THe International Institute of Agriculture at Rome reported in October last that the wheat yield of all. countries supplying data was 105 to 106 per cent, of that of 1920. The visible supply/of United States wheat, at' Ist November- was' over 55,000,000: as against 34,000,000 for the corresponding date, of that year. In all these circumstances the world's wheat market could not be much above 4s 6d per bushel. The New ZealandGo.vern-: ment had, however, guaranteed farmers a minimum of 5», 6d. At what prjce, then, was it expected' to sell the 3,000,000 bushels surplus, and to* where ivas it going I ' If sold 'oh to-day's world's value for" wheat,/ aay '4s 6d per bushel, the loss that the taxpayers pf fjhe I>ominion wilt have to. make good on wheat guaranteed at 5s 6d—the minimum price —will be £150,000; but it will probably be much more than that, because 5s 64. is the minimum price; and, besides, freight and handling charges are much more for wheat sent frpiri" New Zealand to the United Kingdom than from America or Canada. 'It is hardly likely that: the wheat will go to the East to be sold cheaply there, because of the America*i, Canadian, and Australian supplies. These usually_ go to_ the China and Japan markets' in their tens pf thousands: of tons. A loss on the surplus I wheat to be exported from New Zealand is expected by merchant*,'Vto be inevitable,., if the Government makes good its guaranteed prices tp the wbieat-faimers—. and it is not for a moment expected that it will fail to do so. Advices have been received in Wellington of the willingness of Australian exporters to- land flour in Wellington un-der-the new Tariff, with its much enhanced duty, at £13 10s per ton; this flpur being_ made from new season's wheat; while New Zealand flour landed in Wellington and^made from that season's wheat is £17 10s, or £16 1Q« f.o.b. JSouth Island" ports. One m.erchan.t held the export of 3,000,000 bushels of New Zealand wheat to be a g°od thing for the New Zealand farmer and for the cpnptry, even . though it might involve the country as a whole in a loss of £400000—as he estimated it;' for it would then leave 7,000,000 bushels to meet the Dominion consumption of 6,400,000 bushels, and give a reasonable carry-over. Wheat farmers top would have the satisfaction of knowing that there was no surplus to haunt themwwheyn y arranging for. next year's crop. '"■'.'.' The unanimous opinion of merchants seen was that the price' of bread in New Zealand should be brought down jn view of- (1) the' fall in'the world's wheat price, (2) that New Zealand will havei a surplus of nearly half a year's consumption available and to be exported, and (3) that the' tendency of the price of bread the world over was downwards. Bread, it was stated, was much dearer in New Zealand than in England and Austral-to-day.. '.--.' ■'..'