MEAT COOL STORAGE

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 January 1941, Page 4

MEAT COOL STORAGE

MR. FRASER’S ASSURANCE ADEQUATEFOR SEASON [PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.] • • ■■ 1 X WELLINGTON, January 16. An assurance that the Dominion was being equipped with all the cool storage space necessary to meet adequately any restricted meat' export programme was given by the Prime Minister .(Mr. Fraser). “Farmers are asked to continue to forward their stock to the freezing companies in the normal way and thus avoid any risk of congestion,” Mr. Fraser said. As a result of the redent remarks by Lord Woolton concerning the shipment of meat from the Dominion it was natural that some apprehension might be felt as to the adequacy of cool storage provision in New Zealand. For the information of all concerned, Mr. Fraser said, the following was the actual position at present. On August 23, 1939, the Government, through the Department of Agriculture, took the necessary action to ensure that storage facilities at all works were built up to the minimum requirement. This necessitated the erection‘of new storage aggregating 3,420,000 cubic feet of space, and. this additional storage was now in use or almost completed. Shortly after the outbreak of the war it was realised that further provision of cool storage might become a necessity, and the Government therefore took early action by the purchase of essential refrigerating materials from overseas. A large quantity of ammonia piping was secured from Australia and insulating material from Portugal, as well as Australia. “In order to ensure the most efficient use of these materials, negotiations are nearing completion with certain freezing companies, mainly in the North Island, whereby the Government is providing the necessary finance for the erection of an additional 2,640,000 cubic feet of space,” said Mr. Fraser. “All the facilities at the disposal of the Government are now being marshalled to enable this programme of emergency cool store space to be completed by April this year.

PLANT FROM PORT BOWEN. “In addition to the purchase of refrigerating materials from overseas, the Government also secured a lease of the idle Kakaraki buildings of the Wellington Meat Export Company, and is now equipping this building with refrigerating plant salvaged from the Port Bowen. By this arrangement a further 430,000 cubic feet of refrigerated space will be made available.”

Summing up the arrangements already made by the Government to meet such a position as had now arisen, Mr. Fraser said that since August, 1939, individual freezing companies had increased their storage facilities by 3,420,000 cubic feet, and shortly work would commence covering another 2,640,000 cubic feet. This total additional cool storage now available, including the Kakaraki works, would total almost 6,500,000 cubic feet. When it was realised also that in-addition l , to the purely storage space, the existing freezing works within the Dominion were also equipped with approximately 5,500,000 cubic feet of freezing chambers, which could also be used to hold meat for short periods, it was obvious that the country was being equipped with all the freezing space necessary to meet adequately any restricted shipping programme, as envisaged by Lord Woolton. In view of these facts, and in view also of the Government’s assurance, restated by Mr. Nash yesterday, that all the meat produced this year would-be purchased by the Marketing Department, there was obviously every reason that the farming community should be completely reassured, and should just continue to forward their stock to the freezing companies in the normal way. Thus any possibility of congestion would be eliminated.

EFFECTS ON PRICES. MR. POLSON’S WARNING. WELLINGTON, January 16. Several important points were referred to by Mr. W. J. Polson, M.P., president of the New Zealand Primary and Ancillary Industries -Producers’ Council, in an interview on the restricted meat exports. The main point emphasised by M r - Polson was the necessity of adequate safeguards so that, there would not be -a disastrous slump in prices at the end of the war by the release of meat held in storage to compete against fresh meat. ' /

“While one realises the necessity for the action that has been taken,” said Mr. Polson, “the great fear is that the very dangerous position which was created as the result of almost identical action during the last war might arise again, when meat in store was used to beat the market down against new meat being produced. The result was to create a disastrous slump in meat prices. That must be guarded against by some arrangement between the Governments, because if it happened again it would result in a very disastrous position in New Zealand.” Two things would have to be done in the meantime, Mr. /Polson said. More storage would have to be provided, and in the second place he thought an effort should be made to see if additional markets for our meat could be found. He suggested that it ought to be possible to find an outlet for our meat in connection with the establishment of American defence bases. As New Zealand was in the Pacific, it might be able to supply a substantial amount of the meat requirements for any bases created by the United States in this. area. Reverting to the question of storage, Mr. Polson said this was a matter he had been raising ever since the outbreak of war. New Zealand had now got one year’s storage practically fixed, and the Government'had undertaken to .provide other equipment, such as compressors and pipes that it was necessary to import from overseas, to -ensure a second year’s storage if required. PAYMENT TO FARMERS. One of the farmers’ anxieties would be payment. Manifestly, the farmers) could not wait indefinitely for ship-j ment before they were paid. That had been partly foreseen by the arrangement already made for a 50 per cent, payment for a delay in store of a couple of months; but obviously that was insufficient for long-term storage. Mr.

Polson suggested that it might be possible to arrange for finance against store warrants through the banks for the balance, or possibly some further arrangement might be made with the Imperial Government to meet this phase of the difficulty. Mr. Polson said he hoped, however, that it would be possible to ship a considerable quantity of meat, because already this year the indications were that the Dominion would produce more lambs than • usual, and that the weight would be somewhere about 21b a head heavier than last year. , This meant a great increase in quantity and weight compared with last year. Our lamb this year would be more than double the production of lamb and mutton by New Zealand in a good many of the years gone by. Above all, Mr. Polson emphasised the necessity of stored meat not’being put on the open market when the war was over against the fresh meat the country would be producing, with the effect of utterly destroying prices. “That must be foreseen and guarded against,” he said, “and I have no doubt that the Government and the Meat Board are awake to that aspect.”