BUTTER PRICE 100/-

Taranaki Daily News, 4 September 1935, Page 4

BUTTER PRICE 100/-

HIGHEST FOR TWO YEARS AUSTRALIAN SUPPLIES SHORT. MARKETS REPORTED FIRMER. TARANAKI SALES MADE AT lljd. Unofficial advice received- by New Plymouth dairy produce agents yesterday indicates that butter has reached 100 s on the London market, with prospects of a.further advance. This is the highest figure obtained for two years. The last official cables received by agents quoted 98s for finest. It was then known that little produce was off ering on the market as holders were confident that 100 s would be obtained before the end of the week. Last year the prices at the beginning of September were in the vicinity of 765. . A number of spot sales were made in Taranaki yesterday at 11 l-8d per lb., but there is a comparative shortage of supply as the season has not opened nearly as favourably as it did last year, and milk and cream supplies are considerably down because of the cold weather and, in many instances, a shortage of winter feed. Agents are generally of the opinion that a shortage of Australian supplies, is largely responsible for the present rise in prices. The New South Wales dairying districts have been experiencing unusually dry weather, and it is likely that production there in the early part of the season at least will not overtax the British market. The unfavourable beginning of the season in Taranaki is not held to have influenced prices at all, but a large contributory factor is the ending of the Continental production season. Several men prominently connected with the dairy industry to whom the unofficial quotation was supplied commented that a seasonal rise was to be expected at this time of the year, though the improvement compared with last September was gratifying. It might be unwise to expect that the market could hold long at its present level, they said, but it should also be remembered that a much firmer tone existed for wool, meat and other primary products and that the dairy industry might expect to benefit from the general upward tendency.

One agent thought that the present price level might well be maintained on an average until the end of October. There were indications of a generally better permanent tone in the world’s markets and, without being unduly optimistic, the best season for some years, as far as price levels alone were concerned, might reasonably be expected.