FREIGHT ON BUTTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19133, 26 September 1925, Page 13

FREIGHT ON BUTTER.

AUSTRALIA'S HANDICAP. LOSSES CAUSED BY STRIKES. [STS.OM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT, j . .. . SYDNEY. Sept. 18. A report of interest to New Zealand butter producers, as well as those in Australia, for whose consumption it was issued, has been made by the Victorian Butter Export Freight Committee. The report points out that' thg Oversea Shipping Representatives' Association has been Unable to provide an itinerary for this season owing to the disorganisation existing through the present strike of crews on British steamers. Consequently forward arrangements cai.not be made regarding shipments. At the beginning of last season, the report recalls, efforts were made by the committee simultaneously with a New Zealand delegation in London to secure a reduction in the rate of freight on butter and cheese. Prior to the war the rat? was £4 19s a ton. For some time past the rate has been £9 per ton. The New Zealand delegation succeeded in securing a reduction of £1 per ton on the rate on both butter and cheese, but Australian efitorts wera fruitless. According to the report, the main reason given for refusing to extend the freight reduction to Australia was the extra expenso that shipping companies trading t3 Australia were forced to incur through Strikes at Australian ports. Sixty-five thousand tons of butter were shipped from Australia last year, and dairymen paid on this quantity £65,000 more freight as compared with. New Zealand rates; As the price of butter sold locally depends upon the net price procurable in London and approximately 65,000 tons were sold on the local market, during the export season, dairymen lost another £65,000 under this heading, making a total of £130,000. The report gives an instance of how a strike costs dairymen and other primary producers money. Last season, through i strike of wharf labourers, thtu Maloja had to depart from Melbourne without taking a box of butter, althongh there were over 1000 tons ready for placing on board. The 'Maloja arrived in London, on January 3, and butter carried by this steamer from another State brought 170s per cwt. The butter that should have gone by the Maloja was lifted by two slower steamers, reaching London at the end of January, and averaged only 150s per The loss to Victorian dairymen by missing the Maloja with that one consignment of butter was thus £20,000. A number of smaller losses during the season owing to similar delays were encountered. "It seems," adds the report, " that this season a similar or, maybe, worse state of affairs is going to be experienced. Efforts are being made to secure a reduction in the rate of freight to bring dairymen on the same footing as dairymen in New Zealand. The irregular shipments consequent upon the presenj. strike will detrimentally affect every man engaged in the dairying industry, and as before stated the dairymen's case is only quoted as an example. All sections of primary producers will be similarly affeoted."