DOMINION IS ONLY “BRIGHT SPOT” IN UK MEAT SUPPLY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26969, 3 January 1949, Page 5

DOMINION IS ONLY “BRIGHT SPOT” IN UK MEAT SUPPLY

By Alan W. Mitchell,

NZPA Special Correspondent

LONDON, Dec. 15

The one bright spot in the United Kingdom’s meat supply position is New Zealand. The authority for this statement is Dr Edith Summerskill, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food. She made it in the House of Commons during a debate this week on Britain’s food position. Her comment is reinforced by the latest report on the meat trade by the Commonwealth Economic Committee which has just issued a most useful and informative publication, “ Meat.” It gives a summary of figures of world production, trade and consumption of meat for the years 1937 to 1947. New Zealand, the report shows, is not only the chief supplier of mutton and lamb to the United Kingdom; she is also the world’s biggest exporter of this meat. Her shipments of mutton and lamb in 1946 were 17.2 per cent, of all her exports, they were higher in 1947 than in 1937. Exports of lamb were fully maintained during the war years, but those of mutton fluctuated. As a supplier of beef and veal to the United Kingdom, the Dominion ranked third, in 1947, being preceded by Argentina. and Australia, with the United States a fairly close fourth. Beef and veal shipments from New Zealand declined to a negligible quantity in 1944, but last year they were the highest in the past decade. In 1946 (the latest figure given), they formed 3.2 per cent, of all New Zealand exports.

The report shows that New Zealand exports of pork to the United Kingdom declined considerably during the ten years under review, and that they were negligible in 1943. Export of canned meat, however, increased, particularly during the war, and in 1947 (at 143,000 cwt.) they were double'the 1937 figures. World exports of beef in 1947, it is stated, were about 15 per cent, below pre-war levels, and those for pig meat showed a fall of 5Q per cent. The quantity of mutton and lamb in world trade, on the other hand, rose by 30 per cent, and of canned meat by more than 70 per cent, over the period. The Commonwealth share of world exports has risen for beef, bacon and canned meat, but for mutton and lamb it has fallen. Commonwealth countries supplied cne-half of the United Kingdom’s reduced imports of all meat in 1947, compared with about two-fifths before the war.

The United Kingdom remains by far the largest importer of meat. Her home production of beef _ and veal, mutton and lamb declined in the past decade, and her home supplies of bacon and ham were halved. Her production of pig meat fell about one-third. Home production of mutton and lamb fell from 3,860,000 cwt in 1937 to 2,340,000 cwt in 1947; her net imports rose from 6,780,000 cwt to 8,530,000 cwt. Her total supplies, therefore, remained constant at 10,640,000 cwt and 10,870,000 cwt. Argentine replaced Australia as second biggest exporter of mutton and lamb. In 1937 Australia shipped 406,000 cwt of mutton to the United Kingdom, and Argentine lll,ooocwt. In 1947 Australia sent 155,000 cwt and Argentine 503,000 cwt. New Zealand’s exports rose in the same period from 862,000 cwt to 1,409,000 cwt, or more than half the United Kingdom’s total imports of 2,335,000 cwt. Australian exports of lamb in 1937 were 1,477,000 cwt; Argentine’s 779,000 cwt. In 1947 the figures were; Australia 846,000 cwt, Argentine 1,557,000 cwt. New Zealand’s figures rose from 2,740,000 cwt to 3,550,000 cwt, which was again more than half the United Kingdom total imports of 6,196.000 cwt. Average consumption of mutton and lamb per head of the population in the. United Kingdom was 251 b in 1937 and 241 b in 1947. Australia’s was 721 b and 721 b, New Zealand’s 731 b and 681 b in 1946 (the 1947 figure was not available), Argentine’s 171 b and 201 b, and the United States’ 71b and 51b. The United Kingdom’s production of beef and veal fell during the deoade from 12,240,000 cwt to 10,200,000 cwt. Her imports also dropped from 11,520,000 cwt to 10,150,000 cwt, and her total supplies were reduced from 23,760,000 cwt to 20,350,000 cwt. New Zealand’s exports of beef and veal to the United Kingdom fluctuated during the period. In 1937 they were 828.000 cwt; by 1940 they had risen to 1 168.000 cwt, and in 1944 they were 95,000 cwt. By 1947 they were I, Australia’s figures, after showing similar fluctuations, were 2,029.000 cwt in 1947, compared with 2,191.000 cwt in 1937. Argentine’s were 4.959,000 cwt 7.130.000 cwt. Countries ■which did not export to the United Kingdom in 1937, but which were suppliers in 1947 included the United States (1.006.000 cwt), Denmark (286,000 cwt), and Belgium (125.000 cwt). Estimated per caput consumption of beef and veal in the United Kingdom was 551 b in 1937 and 421 b in 1947. In New Zealand they were 1271 b and 961 b (in 1946). Australia 1461 b and 991 b, Canada 671 b and 771 b, United States 631 b and 801 b, Argentina 1771 b and 1931 - , J . ~, There was a sharp drop m both home and imported supplies of bacon and ham for the United Kingdom during the period, the total falling from 11. 630,000 cwt to 4,560,000 cwt, and the per caput consumption declined from,-* 271 b to 101 b. Imports of pork fell.i¥bTh 1,120,000 cwt to 287.000 cwt. The summary notes that only a very gradual recovery of meat production is anticipated, and that output for 1950-51 is estimated at 10 per cent, less than 1934-38.

The effect of the war on live stock numbers was reflected in meat output. Generally speaking, meat production in Europe was heavily reduced, but there was an increase in output in the Western Hemisphere in response to War-time needs and production in Australia and New Zealand was at least fully maintained. In the post-war period recovery in Europe, hindered by many difficulties, has been slow, while in several non-European exporting countries output has fallen below the war high levels. In both Australia and New Zealand beef output during the war was to some extent limited by the need to expand dairy production, but in Canada plentiful food supplies enabled production to be increased heavily, while in the United States the increase was on a far larger scale. The moyement, however. was not paralleled in the South American producing countries. Output in Europe generally declined considerably during the war, and has not yet recovered to pre-war levels. For the world as a whole production appears to have increased in 1945-46, particularly in the Commonwealth, but there were some recessions in 1947. Australian production of mutton and lamb has declined from the high wartime levels to rather less than pre-war; killings in the United Kingdom have been well below pre-war levels. Slaughterings in the United States, still the world's largest producer of mutton and lamb although not a large exporter, rose till 1943, but have since declined. But production in Argentina has almost doubled since before the war.

The report also shows that in 1947 people in the United Kingdom received about half the quantity of meat eaten by people in the United States. Consumption per head in the United Kingdom was 1191 b in 1937; in 1947 it was 771 b. American figures were 1281 b and 1551 b. There were falls in consumption in New Zealand (2261 b per head in 1937 to 1941 b in 1946), and Australia (2391 bto 1871 b). Canada's figure rose from 1111 b to 1351 b. The United Kingdom is now the only Commonwealth country where meat rationing continues.