THE BUTTER POSITION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1148, 8 June 1911, Page 8

THE BUTTER POSITION.

i "PLENTY IN STORE."J A' Wellington merchant' who was spoken to by a Dominion representative yesterI day said that while he agreed with thoso 1 who said there was no "ring" in existence among the factories, ho was not of the opinion that there was a serious shortage of butter supplies. "I am satisfied there is plenty of butter in store, but it is very tightly held," ho raid. Ho ; thought the quantity stored and the little f yet to bo made would he sufficient to see S the season through, without supplies run- | 'iiing, out'. Ho works the position out as ! ' follows i May 31, May 31, f 1910. 1011. I . Boxes. Boxes. 1 (In grading stores 41,273 32,422 : 'In private stores (about) 7,000 15,000 i; , Total held ...' 48,172 47,122 In ■ grading stores, August 30 H'Joo • j Quantity used , 37,088 I The surplus on-August 30, which he'has (•reckoned at 11,185 on the- grading stores i figures, does not include, ho points out', V any surplus which may have been held ipriva.tely. It is not considered that that ' 111,185 boxes included any new 6cason s make, or at least any appreciable quant- ! jity. By this process of reasoning he os- ■ i timat'es that there will not be more than 140,000 boxes of the butter already mwlo I .used between the beginning of this month • and at the end of August, and that as, according to his figures, thero is about I 47,000 boxes stored for the purpose there ' is ample butter held to avoid a shortage. "Questioned as to whether some ot-the i f-butter held might* not be required to ful- > j'fil South African contracts ho said that • ,even so the cjvsc was the same last i ! There would be a difference, he considered, in the makes from the beginning of : .June to tho end of' August so far as the ! tail-end of this season was concerned, but that would not. seriously affect the posi- !' 'tion, and in any case the winter ialling- . off might be evened up by the earlier ' spring which was expected. There wer6 evidences that next season would open " earlier than last season and consequently [•' new butter would be available sooner. Inquiries made yesterday showed; that i thero was then little or no chango in tho | market; i THE "BING" ALLEGATION. A member \of the staff of the Christohurcli "Press" has interviewed some ot ; the Christchurch butter merchants rc- \ warding the allegation that there existed a "ring" among tho factories, tho object of which was t.o put up tho prico of butter. ! , From what the "Press ,r representative : was told, it seems that tho allegation is not generally credited in Christchurch. The account of the interview proceeds:— "One man said he understood there were 1 13,000 boxes less in store in Now Zealand at present than at the end of Jlay last year. No doubt there was a shortage, and it v;as due to two factors. The cows \ commenced milking earlier last year, and naturally they must go out of milk earlier. On top of that the cows were falling away in condition through the drv weather that has prevailed so long. One little factory outside _ Canterbury, m ' April, after supplying their local requu-e----i inents, delivered to this gentleman s firm 180 boxes, whereas in May, after doing i . the same business locally, they had only ,80 boxes to spare. This decrease wap due to the' fnlling-off of the milk supply. In view of such conditions there could not possibly be anything but a shortage of supplies, and high prices through .the winter. This gentleman stated that , the opinion thus expressed was quite _ unbiased, as hi» firm had not got a. single box of butter in store, and when they did buy it they shipped it Home. Questioned as to the alleged 'ring,' he said he did not think there was any such attempt "being made. He stated that two factories delivered to his firm in March. 915 boxes, against 1016 boxes delivered in March last year, a drop of 10 per cent. The monthly consumption for New Zealand was about 25 per cent, of the production, and if the prices went up to 1?. Od. a pound, it would naturally check consumption. If prices were to remain the same, it. would mean that' the factories would have to ' produce two months' butter in the winter, and tlrey could not do that. In conclusion, this gentleman said that the amount of butter' stored in Christchurch was small. In 1910 the increase in the quantity of butter exported as compared with 1909 was 17.76 per cent., whereas in 1011 the increase over 1910 was only 5.82 per cent. Tho natural increase was about 15 per cent. From September 1 to March 30 in the 1910-11 season, the export was 620,155 boxes, against 580,006 boxes in the corresponding period of. 1900-10." Another gentleman interested in this (question said ho ,liad no information as Jto the existenco of any "ring."