GOVERNMENT FIXES PRICES OF

Northern Advocate, 11 July 1936, Page 8

GOVERNMENT FIXES PRICES OF

HEW MOVE WILL SAVE FARMERS OVER £50,000 A YEAR

[Special to “Northern Advocate.’l WELLINGTON. This Day.

NEW arrangement, expected to

result in a saving to the farmer of £50,000 a year, has been made by the Government. The Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, announced yesterday that the selling price to farmers of superphosphates and also the rebate to merchants and dairy companies handling the business had been fixed.

Throughout the North Island, the price is to be £3 16/- a ton ex-works with a rebate to merchants of 4/6, and to dairy companies of 2/-. In the South Island the price is to be fixed at £4 *2/-, with a rebate to merchants of 6/6. The Government subsidy to manufacturers of 1/9 a ton for superphosphate expired on July 1, an? Will not be renewed. The Minister said that the new prices were to be fixed by Order-in-Council under the Board of Trade Act, a detailed examination of the manufacturers’ costs of production having been made by the Department of Industries and Commerce.

i The price of £4 2/- a ton fixed in the South Island included certain railages borne by the manufacturer and on an ex-works ,basis was approximately the same as the price fixed for the North Island. The rebate to South Island merchants was on a higher scale than that fixed for the North Island, owing to the fact that it was both easier and cheaper to sell fertiliser in the North Island. Outstanding Efficiency.

“A great deal of consideration has been given to the question of the. cost of phosphatic fertilisers,” Mr Lee Martin said, “both with regard to superphosphate and alternative fertilisers. Superphosphate is the main fertiliser used in farm production, and the amount used annually has now reached approximately 350,000 tons. The whole of this is manufactured locally, and, so far as manufacturing efficiency is concerned, the superphosphate industry can be viewed as outstanding in New Zealand factory production.

“However, the position with regard to uniformity of price to the farmer and in trading rebates and commissions has not been satisfactory.”

The following rates for superphosphate, ruling in the various areas last year, were quoted by the Minister: — Auckland and Province, £3 16/- a ex-works; Wellington, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, £4 a ton ex-works; South Island, £4 -5/- a ton, which, with railage charges borne by the manufacturers taken into consideration, w r as equivalent to £4 a ton ex-works.

The rebate to merchants handling the business was 4/- a ton in the Auckland Province, 6/6 over the rest of the North Island, and 9/- in the South Island. In the case of dairy companies, the rebate in the Auckland Province was 1/- a ton, and 4/- over the rest of the North Island.

“Apart from the fixing of prices,” Mr Lee Marton said, “it has also been decided to fix the selling commissions, or their equivalent, on all imported phosphatic fertilisers. It is held that all fertiliser commissions or rebates should be uniform in each Island, and should be based on the wholesale or landed price of the commodity. Why Commissions Were Fixed.

“Commissions or distributive allowances on imported phosphatic fertilisers in excess of ‘those operating with regard to locally-manufactured superphosphate might easily lead to many fertiliser distributors neglecting superphosphate in favour of imported lines, which would be disposed of more • profitably. It would be disadvantageous in several directions. It would tend to reduce rather than expand local output and jeopardise any future price reductions in superphosphate, and it would also reduce labour absorption. Every ton of superphosphate made in New Zealand means 6/- more spent in labour than with a ton of alternative imported material.

“As a result, it has been decided to fix the commissions or distributive allowances on imported phosphatic fertilisers on a comparable basis with those operating in the distribution of superphosphate. Saving To Farmer.

“So far as the farmer is concerned, the new arrangements represent a saving of over £50,000 a year, based cn the tonnage of fertilisers used during the past season. However, as the tonnage of 'fertilisers used shows a rapidly rising trend, the actual saving during the coming season will considerably exceed that figure. This can be viewed with considerable satisfaction. Fertiliser represents one of the most important items of farm maintenance expenditure. “In fact, as far as the dairy farmer is concerned, it represents

from 25 to 30 per cent, of the expenditure under that heading,” concluded the Minister, “Thus the bogey of rising costs to the farmer brought about by the Labour administration cannot be raised"even by the most ardent reactionary

with regard to this important phase of farming expenditure.”