FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15504, 10 January 1914, Page 7

FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

REPORT FOR PAST YEAR.

AUSTRALASIAN RECORDS

HIGHER PRICES PROBABLE

By Tolegraph— Press Association—Copyright.

London, January 8. The annual report by Weddel Brothers on the frozen meat trade show? that the general average of quotations for 1913 was the highest on record.

The Australasian supplies of beef and mutton also established records- It is unlikely, says the report, that the year 1914 will witness any further large expansion in the general trade, but the demand for all kinds of meats will probably be but little contracted even if the retail prices are permanently raised. There aro many reasons for assuming that the high values w i" be maintained unless labour troubles interfere. Should the new market in the United States develop on the expanding -lines, as many anticipate, the result would be to emphasise the inherent strength of the sellers' aire -dy strong position.

The report by the Colonial Consignment Company states that with the disappearance of the United States from the list of self-support-ing countries and several European countries initiating the importation of meat, the competition for supplies is likely to place values permanently on a plane higher than has yet been reached.