CHRISTCHURCH MEAT MARKET.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18141, 12 January 1921, Page 5

CHRISTCHURCH MEAT MARKET.

BIG OFFERING OF STOCK. (Fbom Our Own Correspondent.) CHRISTCHURCH, January 11.. All the local freezing works are now in operation, and good supplies of stock are offering. As the season has opened rathe? later than usual, and the dry weather is severely curtailing the feed supply, fairly large quantities of stock, are being offered, but probably the supply will fall away to some extent after the next few weeks. Buyers of meat are now working with nothing but too vagaries of the London market to guide them, and the peculiar trend of the Home market is not likely to engender confidence in buying. . With a downward tendency in freights, it is reasonable to assume that the high rates ruling now will not last, and the producer will probably get the benefit of any reductions. At the Rangiora market to-day the lamb market opened with a somewhat surprising firmness, but sheep met with a very dragging sale. The greater portion of the Imperial Government meat purchases has been sent Home, and now shippers find that they can get almost any allotment they desire. “There is any amount of space now,” said the Christchurch manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company. “ I believe the authorities expect to despatch the whole balance of the commandeered meat this month, but I have not received definite information on this point. The cool stores are fairly clear, and three steamers will call at Lyttelton this month/for the meat consignments. One of them may be taking a private cargo. Anyway, the space situation from the producer’s point of view has seldom been better. Great interest attaches to the Prime Minister’s effort to bring about free market conditions at Home. He cabled on December 18 urging that the control of frozen meat prices should be removed as early as possible.” A prominent commercial man said to-day that whether the “platform” patriots liked it or not, the secret of stabilised conditions lay in an unfettered Germany, and until trade restrictions were removed from the nations of Central Europe the rest of the world could not prosper. For New Zealand particularly it was of the most importance that the pre-war consumers of her produce should be able to deal on even terms.