COMMERCIAL

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 13 March 1928, Page 10

COMMERCIAL

DAIRY PRODUCE'. Jii the course of their monthly review of the dairy produce market at London, Messrs A. H. Turnbull and Company of Christchurch, write as under : “The past mouth has been full of interest to our dairy farmers. Unfortunately, many have suffered from the effects of the dry weather, but, whilst the fall in production has been- severe and is to be regretted, the ill effects have been greatly lessened by the buoyant state of the London market, which quickly responded to the fall in production. Prices have advanced 10s per cwt. in butter and 4s per cwt. in cheese, since our last report of the loth February and, moreover, “market firm” is the latest report to hand. This movement has ben brought about solely by the statistical position, the estimated quantities of all makes in store in the United Kingdom being only 5841 tons of butter and 3675 tons of Australian and New Zealand cheese, whilst shipments are already showing signs of falling off, consequent upon the reduction in gradings. “Forward buyers of butter and cheese have again been very active and it appears as though many of the larger multiple shops have decided to- cover their future requirements. Sale of finest butter commenced at Is 4kl and rose to Is 4-Jd at which figure some fairly heavy sales have been made and even Is scl is reported for local trade. More activity, however, has been experienced in cheese, sales opening for January to end of season’s make at Bjd, rising at short intervals to 9d per lb, at which price' sales have been effected, but as there are large sellers at this figure, it is doubtfull if there will be sufficient forward buyers to absorb the quantity now offering. “On the first of June next it is expected that the duty on butter imported into' Ausralia will be increased by 6d per lb, and this will certainly curtail, if not altogether prevent, further sales for that destination. It remains Ur be seen whether buyers will cover requirements from New Zealand or export prior to June Ist. On the other hand, Australia has had good rains and responds very quickly, so that it is probable that their late season production may be fully sufficient to cover their local requirements. “Turning to the grading figures, we find our butter production for February lia,s fallen by 3400 tons as against January of this year and is lower than February 1927 by 1100 tons, equal to a. 12per cent fall. The total gradings for seven months ending February 29th still show an excess over the same period last year of 49500 tons. In stocks stored in New Zealand, however, there is a drop of over 54 per cent., being now 6371 tons as against 13.800 at the end of February 1927. Certainly, last year there was a tendency to hold back later shipments, on the part of some factories. “The cheese, the gradings for the month show a, decline of nearly 70 nor cent, as compared with February 1927. whilst the quantity stored in New Zealand is lower by 32 per cent.