THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 45, 22 February 1905, Page 8

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

LAST YEAR'S OPERATIONS REVIEWED. SERIOUS SHRINKAGE IN NEW ZEALAND IMPORTS. (From Our Special Correspondent.) _____ t LONDON, January 13. One looks for Messrs. Weddal and Co."s annual review of the frozen meat trade each year in the confident expectation of rinding therein a lucid, accurate and complete summary of the years business, an interesting commentary upon its leading features and a rehablo forecast for tae coining twelve months, together with much valuable information, statistical and otherwise, regarding the progress of the trade. The seventeenth issue of th's i-mutal retrospect, a cop;.' uf which I have to acknowledge, fuiiiJs these exacting requirements - admirably. It deals with the frozen meat trade for 1904, and the retrospect which it affords contains much of direct iiitoresl and importance, to the colony ot New Zealand-

A great falling-off in the total importation of frozen and chilled meats pf aJI kinds was the outstanding feature of last year's business. There was a reduction of 12.204 tons, or 3.13 per cent, sis compared with 1003. and the decrease was not balanced by any expansion in the supply of home grown beef and mutton. Prices, however, showed on the average very liltle advance on those of 1903. the reason being that the shrinkage in supplies was counter-balanced by the universal slackness of trade in the manufacturing districts and in the principal ports of the United Kingdom. The most serious shrinkage in supplies of frozen meat occurred in THE NEW ZEALAND TRADE. The total hnporls of beef, mutton and lamb from New Zealand were 18,139 tons Jess than in the previous year, whereas the import* from tho Argentine showed an increase of 16.738 tons, due to the great expansion in River Plate beef imports. Both Australia and Argentine sent more lambs than in previous year, and that the number imported from New Zealand represented a serious shortage of •333.087 carcases. Altogether the decrease in lamb and niut'on imports in 1004 was by far the most marked fall-ing-off in the trade in any year since its inee.ption. And tlie greater part of the decrease, ns already noted, occurred in the New Zealand section.

As for fro2.i-n beof. there was a general inerea.se from all sources, amounting in the aggregate to an excess of 21,440 tons over thu imports of 1903. But the report note* thai "the. receipts from Australia and New Zealand together were, so intermittent that the distributing trade in frozen beef could not have been kept in existeuce had it not been for the steady receipts from t.ho River Plato. Tho arrivals from the last-named source reached in October a total of no fewer than 115,075 quarters —a quantity appreciably in excess of the total import for the year from New Zealand.

The average pricp of imitfnn for the year was about, 1/S per lb. iv advance of the figure, for 1003. In the case, of lamb, also, tho market was unusually steady throughout the whole of 1004. Tho quality of Canterbury lambs throughout the year, as in 1903. was again excellent, and, owing to the decreased import, it was impossible to supply the demand. The result was that the prices secured in 1004 for New Zealan-d lamb of all classes averaged nearly id per lb. higher than during the previous twelve month?. The trade in River Plate lamb did not amount to very r..:uh. Not the least hi teres ting portion of Wcdtlel's review iz thai, which deals with the. new direct West Coast trade, inaugurated last year by New Zealand. Theirs is the first expert statement of the position that I have yet seen in print. The New Zealand Government Produce Commissioner and his assistant have, both doubtless reported at le.ugth upon the new service, but as the public never sees their reports. noboJy is any , the wiser. Messrs. Weddel & C'o.'s review of the situation is none too favourable. This direct trade between Australasia and the West Coast of England, it is stated.

"labours iinder two somewhat serious disabilities, which must be removed before it cau be made of much real value." The report goes on to point out that in the *fir:-t pla.cn the voyage as at present arranged occupies, on average, a month longer than is desirable. This applies with special force in connection with the lamb trade, which,, until now. has furnished the great bulk of the traffic between Australasia and the West Coast of Ensriand. Under existing conditions a January shipment from New Zealand to Liverpool or Cardiff is not available for buyers' use nny earlier than a February shipment from the same source via London, or than a March shipment from the River Plate. Usually the market value of February shipment of lamb is at least Jd per lb under the value of January shipment; and, therefore, as the cost of railage from London to either Cardiff or I Liverpool is not more than Jd per 11>. whiie the risks of railway transit are now quite nominal, there is not much inducement to Cardiff and Liverpool buyers to make purchases from Australia or New Zealand for so-called "direct" shipment. Further, by purchasing for delivery in London, provincial c.i.f. buyers always have the option of taking advantage of a strong market there, on arrival, or of railing the goods on to their final destination. Trie second disability is the right which shipowners claim, under existing bills of lading, to rail goods from any otlier port at which the vessel may be delivering cargo to either Cardiff or Liverpool, instead of sending the vessel round to discharge direct into store at these ports. The clause in the bill of.

lading •which gives shipowners this right was, says the report, to some extent sprung upon West Coast buyers, and considerable friction arose in connection with the execution of forward purchases because shipowners, in certain eases, insisted upon exercising this right. It is to be hoped, that, when new freight contracts are entered into, steps will be taken by shippers to remove these handicaps, as it is quite unreasonable to expect that West Coast buyers will continue operating, with any degree of readiness, in lines of meat which may reatrh them via another port, and which, m any ease, they cannot expect to nan"* until three months, on average, a' ' jhipment is made. As regards the River Plate trade direct to outports, the past year has not seen any further material increase except in so far as Liverpool is concerned. As in previous years, that port has remained by far the most important centre for the distribution of Argentine frozen meats. The fact that, during the greater parr of the year, prices in London, as a rule, were quotably higher than in the smaller provincial markets, is sufficient explanation of the comparative indifference shown by shippers in 1004 towards extending the direct trade to outlying ports.

A good deal of atteniorj. however, was given to the increase and improvement of cold storage facilities at Liverpool, Cardiff, Avonmouth, Southampton, and Hull, in the hope that, in the not distant future, with improving markets in the provinces, greater attention may be paid to the imputation of frozen meats into these ports. In this connection the comment of Messrs. Wecidel and Co. is interestirjj: '"Much might be said against the further multiplication of centres of distribution, but shippers in the various countries of production no unnaturally think that their interjests are best served by forwarding their exports direct to fciie greatest possible nlimber of such points. They do not always realise that an all-round levelling down of prices frequently results from the opening up of fresh competitive centres of distribution in this comparatively small country."

Dnring the past year, it may be added, 190.143 carcases nf rnirtton and lamb were shipped direct from New Zealand to West Coast ports, as against. 3.C95.08S carcases sbnt from the colony to London.

With regard to freezing work s , it is io be noted that, the 23 works in New Zealand, with a daily capacity of 6~>,200 x 5(51b carcases, shipped 91,024 tons of frozen meat to tho Tingljsh market, and 1031 tons to South Africa; while the Argentine Republic, with only seven works, having a daily freezing capacity of r>4.300 x 561b carcases, shipped 154.537 tons (frozen and chilled) to the. United Kingdom, and 20,512 tons (frozen) to other destinations—principally to the Cape. After jnakine allowance for all the disabilities under which Australia laboured in eon=equence of the drought, and the impossibility of carrying on the industry in New Zealand at full pressure all the year round, there wa* still a very large niarjrin of difference between the effectiveness of the South American freezing works and tliat of similar in the colonies, OS measured by their respective oul--puts. Thi« difference inevitably increases the cost of working, and, therefore., handicaps tbe latter somewhat severely in the competition for the custom of British consumers.

With reference to the general outlook, Messrs. Weddol and Co. forecast a general improvement in trade in the manufacturing ee.nt.res. and a fuller measure, of prosperity throughout the Cnitod Kingdom.