SEASON ENDS WITH CONFIDENT TONE

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 498, 21 July 1932, Page 2

SEASON ENDS WITH CONFIDENT TONE

The Man on the Land

Butter is steady at 107 s and sales have been made in the North Island en the basis of lUd f.o.b. The duty being imposed on Irish butter may cause spot prices for butter to advance further.

The spot market for cheese is to. day quoted at 58s for white and 58s for coloured. Forward buyers were displaying interest in f.o.b. offers early in the week, and one or two parcels changed hands at prices ranging from s|d to 6d nett f.o.b Local agents have submitted firm offers to London during the past two ct three days at 6d f.0.b., but have been unable to induce buyers to pay this figure. 555.59 s landed terms represents barely 53d f.o.b. Many factories are desirous of yelling their back end, so as to allow them to square up their annual meeting, whereas, should they con. sign, it will mean the end of the present year before they finalise their returns.

One cf the chief topics of conversation has been the expectation of improved prices following on the better tone ruling in all London markets this week, farmers and merchants evincing the keenest interest in the results of the Lausanne Conference, the prospects <cf the Ottawa Confer, ence and the effect of the imposition of the Irish duties. Generally speaking there is now more optimism noticeable than for some considerable time.

The Canadian dollar is to-day quoted at 4.03 dollars to £1 sterling, which means that Canadian cheese sold at GOs per cwt is equal to 9,62 Canadian cents per lb, whereas on par exchange with sterling it would equal 1L.626 cents. On the same selling basis New Zealand farmers. with an exchange premium of BJd |'er cent., get id per lb more for their cheese than normally and Australian farmers, with an exchange premium of 25 per cent, get fully VA per lb more than if the exchange, were at par. On cheese sold in Eng-J j land, the Australian farmer has thus 1 an advantage over the Canadian ol about 2Jd per lb, owing to the ex. j change position. This, we presume, will be one of the knotty problems to be discussed at Ottawa. The improvement in weol prices at the London sales this week gives some ground of confidence, but the improvement which has taken place so far is very small and shows little or no gain on the values which were ruling in New Zealand at the end of the last season. London prices have receded to a slight extent during the past three months, and the market was even more do..' pressed than at the end of the NewZealand selling season which, in all conscieiu-e, was low enough. This season, despite its "ups and downs," has again proved that dairying is still one of the best paying propositions, and dairying districts generally compare more than fav.. ourably with sheep raising or grazing areas. It is probably not too much to claim that Taranaki is as sound a district as there is to be found in the Dominion.

OUTLOOK BRIGHTER FOR THE FUTURE SOME CHEESE FACTORIES EXPECT TO PAY I/O* DAIRYING STILL THE MOST PAYABLE PROPOSITION THE continued improvement in the prices of dairy produce over the past month has created a much brighter tone throughout dairy circles, and has been responsible for a substantial appreciation in the rate of pay-out so that many companies in this district now confidently expect to be able to pay out 1/- and even up to I/O* over the past season, a figure that was scarcely anticipated a month or so backThe outlook for the future appears much brighter, and it is generally anticipated that she coming season will bring with it more equanimity and less cause for concern on- the part of the dairy farmer, as with other sections of the community. Big business houses and stock firms are firmly of the opinion that conditions are on the improve and better business is to be expected this season.