MEAT EXPORT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 184, 30 April 1919, Page 10

MEAT EXPORT

AND SHIPPING SCARCITY

EPIDEMICS AND STRIKES

! triOW THINGS HAVE FALLEN OUT,

It is within the" knowledge of every . farmer who has fat'stock for .srJe that ; the position of the freezing industry'at ? present is serious.' The stores are either | full or rapidly, filling, and the shipping i Sn sight is not enough to', relieve the ; situation now existing., It was thought, ; and New Zealand producers were cn- , couraged to think, that this year there i Mould be ample shipping available, and ■ ithat there would be no cause for the i farmer to worry about the shipment of | • lis products, but luck lias beeu' against ;■ Hew Zealand. There does not seem to bo any doubt ! that the Imperial Shipping Control have | idono almost more than cotild he expected ; of them to meet the .requirements of this | .country, Largo niinibers of sliips -wens l' .promised, and'these are coining out. The i toad luck for New Zealand is that they : ore coming tate. The lateness of all the ; ships, it is stated, lias, been caused not iby any fault on the pirit of the j ping Control, or of the authorities in : New Zealand,/but by the long continuance of strikes and epidemics in Britain/ Tho Shipping Control have made .tremendous efforts to mako up the lost • iime by sending out Ships,partly loaded, ■ or even'in ballast. .Several ships have come out, in ballast. The Taiuui comes : without cayo, in ballast-. ] Tho freezing industry is a seasonal industry, and time lost in the early, part ; of a season cannot be made up altogether ,' Iby continuing tho season ■ for ' a - little longer. If the ships had been available earlier la t'ae season they would have cloared the works earlier and enabled them to receive .fat stock offering;. As . always happens some districts have snfworse than others because of the ; . scarcity of shipping. Hawke's Uav prn- ; Jiably has been .the province 'which .lias I #ome .through, the worst, time.' Last 'seai Bon was a bad one owing to laclc of sliipl and, as a consequence,':.the" ccuutry. j was already heavily' Stocked.',,"Tiiis sithi- ; nie.r has been a dry one, and tlie oiirry- : sng of the extra' numbers .of stock lias i ibeen a severe burden. Owing to the'fail-' f Hire of the pastures some of the stock will « miss the market. In other parts of the ! , country there has'been ,embarrassment I , .which is 'not yet all over, but it is difficult if not impossible to estimate how ' : Jiuich actual loss there will be on 'ac- : count of there being 110 ships, to clear i ithe stores at the time there is need for ; space for stock ready and waiting, In j the old days before tlie war the season \ Jised to run out about May, but liov it : jstrings out .into June and July. .liHlie j (North Island it goes out earlier-because • At comes in earlier.l It'can -bd'said.tliat: | 'ithe season lasts from. November.to May ! -in the North Island;: and from:" about : 3anup»y; to:: June. or-July in.-the South ; .(blana. '";Pirst"of 'all; ; after shearing j come tlie'.wethers-and 'dry..ewes,, then i .jthe lambs. a"re ilfcKed.'ili" when:thdy are •'['.ready, and' beef can~ be''kept' in- condiMotion the'.whole'year round almost? '-"In .■ jiiho North of Auckland, and in : t:he*North ! j'fTaranaki district beef is-killed for; export. : practically the whole year through. It j ,:ia roally impossible ; to estimate'. tho : of-total-loss that may'lie due to ;' itiino lost,, because .bo- mnch..'depends, on |. the nature of the season and 011 the local : r (conditions. •• •• •' . ; The stores are not yet. quite full all : j.Jover tho country, and it is always the : pustom, in allocating, space in outward Steamers, to give space "to...those districts : ,where there is the greatest urgency; . There were in"stores on March 31,.the '■ latest dittefor which, exact Jgiir.es- are ! available, 6,482,529 freight ..ea'rci)sses,pf i ' all classes-qf meati of which 4,1)59,1(>7 ! i .were.in 'the North'lsland,' and''2,293,302 ;! in the South Island;' In the "past tour 1 ' 1 weeks considerable quantities'of' meat thave been lifted, but probably mor» meat 1 ds in the stores to-day than, on March ( (31. The capacity of ithe stores "of the : country is 7,380,272, but tlie capacity is : always calculated in whole carcasses, and ;i it is. always found in practice that rnoro ; [ pieat can be stowed in the, stores than I ■ l .they are supposed to hold.: . It is the j i,custom in the trade to out and telescope jjicarcasses of mutton and''lambkin order : !(±o save storage space, and by this method : £the capacity of the.stores is increased,by ' '~iabout 25 per. cent.. No such method -can ■'(be used ..to save space in the storage ot : ibeef, and . tne quantity of beet in I ■ .ithe stores is approximately 7(50,000 ireignt i .carcasses. Milking allowance for inis ; quantity of 'beei,. the actual capacity : 01 the ' stores 111 cut carcasses is • 6,037,810.- As all caroasaes are being cut 1 now, and as practically all uncut cari casses which were frozen beforo the tele- ! tcoping scheme came into operation, : liuve been lifted from the stores, 'this may ' he accepted as a fairly accurate estimate : oi the capacity of tlie store's. The cut- ! ting of carcasses has saved- the country i ft great deal in tlieso abnormal times, but ■' the practice wilt not be continued by tne ! trade when shipping is plentiful. The ! cut edge of tho carcass becomes rougn and frayed by handling, and the meat : loses u great' deal in. appearance.. During Jfay ten steamers are to' load ; pieat in iNew ..Zealand ports, and these ; Bhips will relieve tho present situation ■ considerably. More ships aro stiu to come, and it is hoped that at the be- : ginning of noxt season tho stores here : |wui oe nearer to being empty than uie.y i V'ero at tne beginning ot the present | Eeason. Ead the prugramme mapped out ; by the Imperial Shipping Control been . carried out, all the snips that we have liad, and all tho ships now in sight, would ! have been this coasc two montlis 1 earlier. IE this arrangement bad beeu ; kept thero would have been 110 embarrass- ; ment in the meat trado in New Zealand i this season. As already stated, first 01 an ; delays were caused by epidemics and ; strikes. The dolays in turn caused sliort- ■ «ago of supplies in Britain, and ships had . -to be sent 011 the sliorter run to Argen- , tins to pick up meat cargoes, causing 1 etiil iurtner delays in the dispatch of ships to New Zealand. Tlie Government ! iavo ample' evidenco that the shipping ; people at Home have done their best lo ; piake up lost time. • The uuly real ground the New Zealand ' producers have for complaint is 011 acI. count of the distribution of shipping be- ; itween New Zealand and Australia. The i .work of the Overseas Committee which i control the allocation of space in New ; Zealand, .under directions as to priority ! received from Britain, is done without i publicity. No doubt the same practice. i 3 i followed iu Australia; and exact infor-i-nation as-to tho needs of the hvo conni tries is lacking. . It is stated, however, : that Australia has had far" moro than ; a fair share of the refrigerated steam- :■ era, that the Aijetralian cold storep ape

liovr empty, The situation is viewed with some bitterness and ehvy by the New Zealand exporter nnd producers, and very vigorous and continual representations have been made to the Imperial authorities on behalf of New Zealand by our Government. But when in-thesc days of high freights and scarcity of ships the Imperial Skipping Controller will go so far to meet the New Zealand producers as to send out ships in ballast in order that time may not I>b lost in lifting outward cargo from this country it cannot he said that New Zealand is boing entirely neglected.

AUCKLAND FREEZING WORKS CONGESTED. JI.V Telegraph—l'rces Association.

Auckland, Aijril 29. The congestion' at the freezing works of tlie Auckland district threatens to seriously affect farmers in regard to the disposal of- fat stock, unless curly relief is afforded by the provision of shipping space. The "Horotiu works / ave be?n closed sinco* April 17, and will not 'be Teopened until the Corin;l)ic loi ds her cargo at the end of the week. The Southdown works have been restricting tilling for some time, and vill be fully stocked by the end of the v.cfic. 'the produce held in store r.t Hoiotiu and Southdown is 178,0C0 carcasses of mutton and 28,000 crates of cheese in excess of that held last year.