DOMINION'S CHEESE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 872, 25 November 1916, Page 2

DOMINION'S CHEESE.

THE PROPOSED PURCHASE. NEGOTIATIONS PROCEEDING. [Special to The San.] WELLINGTON, November 24. The renewed negotiations for the purchase of New Zealand cheese from the factories on behalf of the Imperial authorities are being watched, with keen interest by those connected with the dairy industry in Wellington. It is stated that the Imperial authorities are willing to pay 9d per lb, and that the factories will accept 10<1 for the balance of the season's output, conditional upon the cheese being purchased in the stores, with a guarantee of shipping facilities. Tour correspondent was informed by one business man, intimately connected with the trade, that the factories would probably accept 9jd for the whole output, if the existing contracts could be cancelled. In view of the fact that, in the absence of Government purchase, they were threatened with a serious shortage of shipping space, this price would be well below the ruling rates, but it is admitted that the Imperial authorities are in a strong position to make a bargain, since they control the refrigerated shipping space. Cheese is beginning now to accumulate in the stores, and the situation has been causing, some anxiety. It will be remembered that at the beginning of the season the Imperial Board of-Trade offered 8d per lb for the Dominion's cheese, but would not pay the B|d dema n<led of them by the producers.