MEAT SLUMP.

Manawatu Times, Volume XL, Issue 14095, 2 January 1919, Page 5

MEAT SLUMP.

PRODUCERS ARE j/LR'fURBED. COMPANIES IN EXPLANATION. Some of the farmers in the Wellington district are complaining about the prices being offered by the freezing companies' buyers for the season just opening. It appears that the companies have reduced the prices to be offered for most classes of meat about one-eighth of a penny. Less is • being offered for wether mutton, and the reduction is greater for ewe mutton and lamb. The Gear, the biggest company in the district., has not yet fixed its prices definitely, and until it does so it may be impossible to say with any certainty what the prices for the season will be. It is admitted by the' companies that this reduction in prices is being made, and for reasons which are serious enough. First of all, the costs of operating havo increased considerably. Wages have risen, coal is dear and the supply precarious, and most of the works have erected additional storage, which will not be necessary after trade has onee more become normal. In addition,, the companies are faced with uncertainty as to the markets for their most important byproducts, tallow and pelts. It is known that the pelt market has gone to smash in America since the armistice was signed, and in England there has also been a slump. The price for pelts will steady down to something considerable soon, but the war values are not at all likely to be maintained. There are about 30,000 tons of tallow in the country at present, and still there is no news of any great quantity being shipped immediately. Even if the price were to be maintained, the loss in charges incurred by the companies on so much tallow would,, it is urged, be sufficient to warrant a reduction in the prices to be offered now. But there is no certainty that the war prices will be maintained. It is expected that they will drop considerably. It is well known that during the war the high price of tallow has been due to the need for glycerine. Before the war glycerine was a by-product of soap. In war time glycerine has been the principal product. Canada and America will not take the tallow. The Meat Trust has tallow for sale, and it has money and influence in America. In any case it is believed by the export people here that it was the influence of the Trust which prevented the Canadian Government from allowing New Zealand tallow to come into that country. But the most important of all the reasons which make reduced prices certain this year is that the output from the works must be smaller. The sea son opened in 1916 with empty stores, in 1917 the stores were almost empty, this year they are about three-quarters full. With the shipping in sight it will not be possible for the companies to go on at the usual rate for very long. It has happened in other seasons that the keen competition has forced prices up above the rates offered at the beginning of the season. This was particularly so in this island when the New Zealand Refrigerating Company opened at Wanganui. The new company had to buy its footing. There will be no keen competition for stock this year. The works do not want meat early m the season.

Much has been said about the great number of ships to come here in the near future. The Devon, which is now on the coast, but which has*not yet begun to load, was announced here as a November ship. The experience of past years has been that ships do not arrive until months after due date, and the big fleet of which so much has boon said, and of which so much is expected will not be ablo to give relief to the crowded stores until April at the earliest, and the worst of the crush will be at the end of February.