THE TEA POSITION

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 139, 10 December 1923, Page 8

THE TEA POSITION

HIGH PRICES, HIGH PROFITS.

V™ 7ng i m j ¥ a°ns > the P°Pulation of J<ew Zealand for the te.i months ended tw'S'^^ P°unds °* tea per head. All of this, of course, has no', gone into consumption, for ther« r m a ff^ ! ar Sc *** «H told <m hand » merchants' warehouses, and in retailers possession when the year opened; imt,?,) only h? s »8 Quantity of tea imported much increased, but its price has increased too. Those in the tea trade Avho looked for a reduction in jmce have been disappointed, and both .toe Calcutta and Ceylon markets-whence the bulk of best teas for this country aY?^ dr^ aV? been extraordinarily nf •«, , foll? WInS-figures will show how the value of tea, as the Customs appraise, it, has advanced:—

During the past three weeks tea has advanced 2d per pound in India and Ceylon, taking into account the recent rise m the value of the rupee. The official value of the rupee was 2s but the usual equivalent is l s 4d> as the exchange tables published in "The Post" twice a week show the rupee is worth la The tendency of the rupee for reasons of exchange and relation of imports to exports, which are too intricate to go into here is for a steady, rise. Tea in India and Ceylon has to-day risen fully 8d per pound on the average of 1921 prices, although the duty on all British grown teas coming into New Zealand has been removed. "

The growers, after a. disastrous experience of glutted markets in 1921" reduced outputs. The result has been production below consumption, with profits to growers that have never been equalled A great London authority on the tea trade remarks :_1

c It is probable that the balance-sheets of tea-producing companies at the present moment are, as a class, the most affluent of any issued by public companies, but it is to be remembered that most of the companies are capitalised on a remarkably low basis, as, in times of prosperity it has been customary to use part of the profits for betterment and the opening up of new areas." Labour shortage has had its influence, too, on reduced production. Hopes for a, fall in prices are still entertained, and it is understood that stocks m New_ Zealand are being kept as' low as possible in order to take advantage of any fall when it comes. So far as the Indian and Ceylon markets are concerned, any reduction in prices seems remote to say nothing of the.enhance?i* jjv' I?V ee and the need to remit l*(t additional on everj Is 4d expended on tea. i •-. •■.■

Ten months 1922 .....'. 1923 ...... Pounds. 7,564,834 8,773,949 Value. £469,385 £715,866