FROZEN MEAT IN 1905.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12906, 21 February 1906, Page 7

FROZEN MEAT IN 1905.

The following is extracted from the C.G. and D. Company's Annual Report on the ' frozen meat trade:— The frozen meat trade has now been in ■existence for five and twenty years, and? although it is/a trade in which little importance,.vean. •i>e -attached to precedents, it might nave been.supposed that the experi-. in that : period would have left: few lessons to be learned!" The markets' during the "past twelve months provide striking evidence to the contrary, and it has been'-brought home to shippers in somewhat drastic fashion that careful attention, to .the requirements of. the Home market, both as regards quality and the season of supplies, must be given if .satisfactory results are to be achieved. The wastefully fat sheep from Australia, the abundant supplies of beef from South America, and the heavy shipments of lamb from New Zealand: after the season was over, have all demonstrated that disregard of the re-: quirements of this market cannot be practised with impunity. The competition which frozen meat has had to meet has been with one exception mainly with itself." This exception, however, and refers to lie rapidly growing export of chilled beef from South America. .This has,.been, concur-, rent with; a*i .even greater expansion in the joutput jfji Jfrom "the same quarter, and,, as cheap beef always offers greater" to the retailer' than cheap mutton, this meat proves a serious •competitor with colonial p mutton,-. Whether it-is: a consequence;'or is a signiScant fact that the "increase"' in the supplies' of-South' American-' -chilled beef ihas been .accompanied,by a decline in the export of chilled beef from the United States. .: The values ruling. Jfor frozen, mutton have shown, no violent fluctuations. The falling off in the receipts during 1904 left stocks in limited compass at the-end of the year, and the prices realised, at the opening of 1905 touched the .'highest point recorded for the whole of the twelve nao:;i3;s. The general tendency of values has been downwards, and although the average prices for the year should, uader norrnal conditions, have given satisfactory results to-shippers, it : is doubtful whether, this lias been .the case owing to the faiprh cost^pfstftck.in the.producing countries. Lambs commanded high prices ■

throughout the season, but the general result for the year has been, spoilt by the large quantities which, arrived during the months wheu lambs are little wanted. It might {airly be said .that neither with mutton, nor lamb have importers had the control of the market, which is -necessary if the meat is to be handled to the best advantage, and which, oonduced to the steady markets of 1904. It has been a year of -cheap 'beef, and at no time since the first week in. January have values touched 3£d psr lb per, side for New Zealand, or 3d per lb per side for South American beef.

The condition of trade .generally throughout the country, when judged -by the usual standard of import .and export returns, would lead to the conclusion that there has been a steady advance in ..prosperity. On the other hand, if the frozen meat trade may be taken as an indication, it would appear from the recurrent complaints from the retailers of the dullness of the demand and the difficulty of making profitable prices, that the apparent prosperity of the country 'has ;not yet reached the industrial classes.

The sources of supply-of frozen meat to the British market have been increased during the year "by .the addition of Uruguay and Chili, both of which countries are likely to prove permanent factors in the trade. . The most -significant, innovation was the shipment of Argentine sheep to Antwerp, where they were slaughtered and dressed and despatched to this country. In this way the -prohibition on the importation of ;sheep was avoided, and the fresh meat realised prices which compared well with the quotations for English mutton. Some consignments were distributed to provincial markets, but it is understood that the majority of-, the shipments did not give profitable results, and the trade has ceased ior the present. Of other meats, which more or less affect the demand for imutton and beef, the import of pork has been below the average of recent years, and during the last few mouths good prices have;-been made. Rabbits, on the other hand, show a very large increase on the receipts for the previous year, the total of 656,078 cwts. These are principally from the colonies, and compete severely with 'frozen meat during the autumn ~months, when the bulk of the rabbits arrive.

In evidence before the' ; Royal Commission on the "Supply of Food in Time of War," it was stated that the estimated consumption of meat in the United Kingdom was tons per annum, representing 121.771bs per head. Of this quantity it was further stated that 1,001,171 tons, or 44.55 per cent., representing 54.25 lbs per he-ad, -were. imported, the' balance being the Home supply. On the whole, the year 1905 cannot have been a very profitable one for those who have speculated in frozen meat. The high prices which live stock has commanded in the colonies have borne little relation to the London.market, and speculative operations have not attained the magnitude of some previous years. Moreover, the difficulties which have arisen in numerous eases through the price being left open for subsequent agreement, have not even yet. been satisfactorily adjusted. This innovation, whereby the price of a sale was to be the lowest at which any similar sale was made during the month of shipment, has'; not proved of sufficient practical value to be.likely to be repeated without safeguards on both sides.

So far as New Zealand is concerned, the bulk of the business on the c.i.f. basis is done'in lambs, and.,the high prices demanded by the colony'left very little marguv for profit to-the operator on this side, and towards the, .end of the-season, landed him with heavy losses.

Profitable business could have been done at one time in Australian mutton, but buyers were very■.■■shy, as the estimates of the supplies coming forward .varied greatly. In fact, the principal result of the year's operations has "been to create an absence of confidence in the future, and it is sighi-. ficant that during the last twO or three, months, not only has there been no speculation or forward dealing, but extremely few offers have come forward from tlie colonies. The belief that better results will be achieved for all classes of frozen meat- by increasing the centres for distribution still appears to be largely held in the colonies. Development in this direction may and probably will enable supplies to be more readily dealt with when they come forward, but scarcely sufficient attention is given to the fact that in a small country like Great Britain, such centres tend tobecome to a large extent competitive: This was pointed, out in our last review, and the experience of the past year has shown that the. limit Of consumption is easily reached in the out-port markets, and that the prices realised have shown no advantage over the London market. A decrease in the quantity of mutton delivered by the New Zealand service to West Coast ports has been accompanied by an increase in the quantity of lamb, the better demand for the latter heing readily accounted for by the small shipments of lamb which are received from those ports from South America. There is still room for considerable acceleration in.this service, btit the rivalry between the_ ports to secure the business has lei to importers obtaining material advantages. , Australian shippers have not been slow, to avail themselves of the facilities offered, and "shipments have been made during the year .to Liverpool, as well as -to other ports. This branch of the trade may be expected to grow rapidly as the shipments of Australian mutton increase. The northern markets will welcome cheap carcases of good quality, and the activity ,in the manufacturing districts should lead to an improved demand for meat in the near future.

No progress, has been made during the year towards the introduction of frozen meat into Continental countries.

There has seldom been such a general consensus of opinion that shippers must look for a lower range of values in the forthcoming year. In all the 'producing countries a higher value has been placed on the live stock .than can be supported by >this market. It is too often overlooked that the prices for frozen meat are influenced not only by the amount of supplies available, but also by the competition of meat' of other descriptions, , which scarcely enter into the calculations ofcolonial shippers. But even leaving these extraneous influences on one side, the facts remain that the annually increasing demand for lamb has been checked this year, by the high prices demanded during the season, that the supplies of frozen beef appear to be as much as this market can absorb at present, and that the competition of South American mutton has been more severely felt by the colonial shippers than ever before.

The absence of buying orders in New Zealand and Australia at the present- time may he taken as a strong indication of the views of this market as to the future.

The rapid expansion in the export of beef from South America is likely to be maintained, and already it is reported that the espori of lambs is falling off. The Commonwealth however is rapidly becoming restocked as regards mutton,* and a larger ■export may he expected before the end"of 1906. The beef shipments from Queensland are still a very uncertain factor, and

in all probability the export to this market will again be very small. A rec-ivery in the flocks in New Zealand by over 840,000 sheep, accompanied by a, decline of 175,815 in the total export of carcases, indicates that the shipments next season will show an increase on those of the past year. There has also been the large increase of 145,000 cattle, but it is doubtful whether this will result in any material increase in the quantity of frozen beef.

On the other hand, the general improvement in trade in this country may lead to an increased consumption of meat, but the average returns can scarcely be expected to E exceed thoss obtained in 1905.