DAIRY PRODUCE PROSPECTS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 22, 26 July 1933, Page 12

DAIRY PRODUCE PROSPECTS

The Xew Zealand "Dairyman" advocates greater attention than formerly being given to the Far Eastern markets as an outlet for Xew Zealand dairy produce. This work, it is held, is not for any particular dairy company but for the Dairy Produce Board. "For the first tew years this class of business will show a loss, and this loss should be borne by the industry as a whole. Sales of produce should be made by the board direct and if the' net price realised is below London parity the factories supplying the board with the necessary produce must be compensated out of the board's funds. "In short, the board should take complete control of the buying and selling and work the Eastern markets on strictly business lines. The lack of shipping facilities and the absence of adequate cool stores in some of the Eastern ports are a great handicap at present. But notwithstanding these drawbacks Australia, ir- 1931, exported £18.000,000 worth of produce to the East, which included 8.000,000 lb of butter and 4000 tons of condensed milk. Compare this witli Xew Zealand's export of 430.0001b of butter in two years! "If the Eastern market presents difficulties it has also its advantages. In all the British ports of South China, India, Ceylon, etc., there is no duty on our produce. What is more, the price of silver —the currency of the East—has appreciated 20 per cent, during the last year or so, and therefore has tremendously increased the purchasing power of these countries. There is every indication that silver will appreciate still further, and the time has never been more opportune for establishing trade connections than the present. It is to bo hoped, therefore, that the Dairy Produce Board will direct its energies in this direction."