FARM PRODUCE TRADE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 27 May 1918, Page 4

FARM PRODUCE TRADE.

THE OUTLOOK

■ l \ Government control of several of the ; main exports from the Dominion (says 1 the Wellington Pest) has practically' destroyed tneru* markets ana divested them of any interest on the part of speculators. Wool, meat and cheese, and, till lately, butter, being requisitioned, producers, if they felt that they should Jiav© received more were they permitted to go into the open marKet, at any rate had. the satisfaction of knowing that a regular price was assured, and that by no means un-., remunerative when the cost of production is taken into account. The first 1 New Zealand product to be requisi- j tioned by the Government was frozen meat, and it will be requisitioned for ; six months after the war etnds," for ocr- ! tain. Possibly this arrangement may I be revised, also th«i prices increased, I for a much longer lijne. But title i frozen meat export trade is for the! time being in the hands of the Gov* ! erhment, which! also provides the insulated space for its carriage by 6ea and pays storage charges. The meat from Isew Zealand, however, is not paid for until it is on board the steamer, and it 5s calculated that, by the the «nd of August 1 next, if no improvement .is made in shipping arrangemants, there ij will be some 4,000,000 carcase* in store. How the trad« will stand at the end of the war is at present a matter of mere conjecture; but whenever and however the war will end, it i& incumbent upon all engaged !in it to prepare for changes in distribution and conditions generally. W. Weddel and; Co., in their ably-written annual report, invaluable to all interested in the trade, state that "the opinion is almost universally held that after the war there will be a scramble amongst all big consuming countries of the world, and some of the smaller nations which have not previously been importers of meat, for a. snare in the world's exportable surplus. High prices are anticipated as a consequence of the keen competition to be looked for under such circumstances, and years are, freeTy expressed that the available surplus will tall far short of the requirements of a continent which for some years hag been reduced to very modest rations under the stress of war. Tha outlook for supplies is, however, more than hopeful; plenty is almost assured. . * . The only problem remaining to be 6olved is transport, and. even that ia not by any j means unsatisfactory. The tonnage of refrigerated steamers now in existence under the British" flag is as large as at the outbreak of the war, and new shipping lines have started in France and Italy, which bring the world's aggregate of refrigerated tonnage into an exceptionally strong position. If only the avalabl© means of« transport be utilised to their full capacity for this their main purpose, there can be little doubt that the most pressing prospective demands will not go unsatisfied for want of the meat nor for lack of ships to bring it to Europe." Weddel's did not think that prices in 1918 will be any lower on the average than in 1917. Sources of -supply 'now include South Africa, which exported 22,400 tons in 1917, as against 7928 tons in 1916; and Brazil, which shipped 66,540 tons of beef in 1917, as against 33,130 tons in 1916. Empire production and exports, of meat, frozen and chilled, for 1917 was> as f&llows: Australia, '119,000 tons; New Zealand, 117,000;' Canada. 55,000; South Africa, 22,000. Total overseas output. 313,000 tons, or 32 percent, of the world's output. Total foreign output, 68 per cent. Importations by United Kingdom, of world'B output of 965,000 tons, 550,000 tons, or 58 per cent. With respect to foreign competition in the frozen meat trade, Weddel's state: "The war ? conditions have favored those* countries which are the keenest competitors of our overseas States in Jiormal times. When peace comes' it will be found that these rivals have greatly strengthened their hold on the British markets, and have secured a position from which it will be extremely difficult to dislodge them, unless the.Government will adopt some of ' the recommendations which have been laid before them from tima to time." Mention is made of the British Empire Producers' Organisation in this connection