WHEAT AND FLOUR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3115, 20 June 1917, Page 6

WHEAT AND FLOUR

THE QUESTION OF PRICE.

Millers in Auckland and Dunedin are' reported to have urged that the maximum pneo of flour should bo increased in view of the fact that, the wheat bought iu Australia by the Now Zealand Government is being sold in t'ho Dominion at Bs. 3d. per bushel. A' Dominion- reporter who made inquiries 011 Hie subject yesterday gathered that there 18 no present likelihood of tho suggested increase being made. Under the regulations gazetted in I'ebruary the maximum price of flour is ,£ls a ton, f.o.b. at.Canterbury ports, pins tho cost ot carriage in.tho ease of other districts. Ihus tho maximum, prico of flour in Auckland is the Canterbury price plus the cost' of transport from 'Lyttelton to Auckland. The maxima prices of wheat arc also fixed on a f.o.b. basis at Canterbury ports, and tho official view appears to be that tliis arrangement does justice all round, even under the conditions created by the arrival of the Australian wheat. An Auckland miller, for example, finds that Canterbury wiieat cost him something like 6s. 3d. a bushel by the timo he lands it in his own city. But he gets the freight charge back when he' sells his flour, and he is not placed at a disadvantage when he pays Ss. 3d. for Australian wheat, which produces more flour per bushel than the Canterbury grain. Canterbury millers might be awkwardly placed if they had to buy wheat at 6s. 3d. and sell their flour'at .El 5 a ton, but it does not appear that Canterbury has any need to import wheat. The stocks of local grain held there are reported to be sufficient to supply the local market with flour and leave a substantial surplus for export to other parts of tho Dominion. Canterbury millers have been selling' flour outside their own province below the maxima prices. , Complaints have been made regarding' tho quality of n portion of the first consignment of the Government's Australian I wheat, Tecently landed in Dunedin. It appears that a certain quantity of dirty and weevily wheat was included. The first shipment was made hurriedly while the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. W. D. S. Maconald) was in Sydney. Arrangements had l>een made for inspection at the ship's side, but apparently it ■was not adequate. The proportion of rejected wheat in .the consignment is understood to have been small, however, and future shipments are expected to be up to the excellent samples provided when the purchase was being arranged. An.inspection by a qualified New Zealand officer before the wheat leaves Australia is being arranged. Reports from Dunedin millers are to the effect that the milling quality, of the wheat already landed in the "south is high. v The only complaint made by the millers relates to the landed price, which they consider unfairly and unnecessarily high.