PRICE OF SUGAR

Otago Witness, Issue 3526, 11 October 1921, Page 55

PRICE OF SUGAR

RETAIL PRICE TO BE 4fd rER POUND. NEW PLYMOUTH, October 3. Sugar will be cheaper next month. It is understood that the Government has entered into a new contract with the Colonial Sugar Company, and as a result the reduction of £l3 per ton will be made as from November 1. The present price of sugar at Chelsea Works is £47 per ton; the new price will be £34. It seems doubtful whether the public will receive the full benefit of this marked reduction, as it is rumoured that the Government will take part of it in the form of a new duty. The new price will mean a reduction in the retail price of about l|d per lb. but it is expected that £d will go in duty, so that the actual fall in the price of sugar on November 1 will be barely ?d. An official statement on these lines may be expected in a few days. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, October 4. In the House of Representatives this afternoon the Hon. E. P. Lee, as Minister in Charge of Industries, Trade, and Commerce, made a statement regarding the Government’s dealings in sugar. In the course of his address he said: In February and March of this year the Government negotiated with the company for a further supply of sugar front the expiry of its first agreement. A formal contract was entered into on August 1 last.. This contract is in similar terms to t he first contract. We again buy sugar f.0.b., Fiji It is freighted at our exjien.se to the Chelsea refinery, and it is there refined on our behalf bv the Colonial Sugar Company and distributed bv them through the usual commercial channels to the consumers of New Zealand. But 'here is a big difference in the price at which we bought. Instead of £35 10s per ton f.o.b. Fiji, we have bought at £22 12s 6d per ton f.o.b. Fiji, and this will enable us to dispose of the sugar through the usual trade channels at such a price that it will reach the public at 4?cl per lb. Again. I think the country is to be congratulated upon being assured a sufficient supply of tlie highest grade sugar in the world, and at the lowest price. The new price will come into operation on November 7 next, and this year .1 can claim that, the price is lower than the price paid in any other country in the world, including Australia.