THE BUTTER EXPORT TRADE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 10217, 11 December 1893, Page 3

THE BUTTER EXPORT TRADE.

(Irgut.) During the last few days those,who are intsrested in the batter export trade hare' been somewhat perturbed by the persistent! circulation of reports that a collapse in! that trade was impending, owing to K serious decline in prices in. the. London! market. It was stated that the largeweekly shipments from Australia, together with the supplies received from the Conti* nent, would cause a glut in. the English! market, and that'a decline in prices waej inevitable. It was even reported that produce brokers in London competent to! predict the course of that market were pon-; fidenttbat in a fortnight or so the price of factory batter would, owing to the impend* iog glut, fall from 120 s per owt to 80s,' and that not more than, 65s or there- 1 aboufcs would be obtained for dairy-made! batter. The persistency with which these! statements were made, and the referenooe| to them in the newspapers both here and in Sydney, caused uneasiness among buttes] factory managers, farmers, and others engaged in the dairying industry, and in! some cases advances against’ shipments’ were reduced from 8d or 9d to fid pet lb. We have baen credibly informed,, and enquiries support the information, that the 1 predictions are to be associated with trade; operations, and ate dictated by ulterior, motives. The statement is that some! leading merchants, both in London and Australia, who lost by making too liberal; advances last year, are now endeavouring, to recoup themselves by “ bearing" the local market. It is pact of their plan to influence the London market by exaggerating the production of butter in Ans«; tralia this season, and to declare that the quantity shipped is greater than in officially stated to be the case. By this means! it is hoped to cause a temporary collapsA in the prices in London, and in. tha| way confirm the predictions oablled to! Australia. The publication of the cable messages here was calculated to ilndaoei producers to accept lower prices for their butter than they would otherwise do. It 1 is alleged that operations were began in! New South Wales and Sonth The output in those colonies is not as laws as in Victoria, and it would therefore be easier to affect those markets than the, Victorian. The scheme was certainly an ingenious one,because it prices were., depressed in those colonies it would follow, as a matter of coarse that a redaction would take place here also.' So for, 1 apparently; from there being any serious cause for fear, the fact is that advices! were received from London showing that: the demand for colonial batter increasing, 124 s per cwt being obtained for "best factory,” while prices range (or lower qualities down to Xo7s only. Off course, as the season advances—later on in January or February—prices will decline; slightly, as the supplies from the Continent begin to increase again towards the end of February and the beginning of MorobJ Although it is expected that the export ol batter from these. Colonies this season will' be nearly double what it was last year, this' increase, when compared with , the con-! sumption of Great Britain daring tbs winter months, will be so small that «k> peits declare that it cannot appreciably, affect the prices in the London market., ft is gratifying that the batter industry,! which has been built up at great expenie! on the part of the State, has assumed such; large dimensions, bnt it would have been, seriously injured and curtailed had soma; operators been allowed to obtain control of the export trade. If'they had been sue-; cessful the price of Abutter would have fallen, to the great loss of the farmers.