BUTTER AND CHEESE

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 108, 31 January 1921, Page 4

BUTTER AND CHEESE

REPORTS FROM LONDON MARKET TENDENCY TOWARDS LOWER PRICES Some information regarding butter and cheese prices is given in the following cablegram from the High Commissioner to tho Prime Minister, dated London. January 27: — “Total stocks of cheese held in importers’ and wholesalers’ warehouses in Great Britain on January 1, 1921, were 18,988 tons. Of these stocks, 11,400 tons were Government and 6688 privately owned. Ministry of Food adds that balance of cheese to arrive from Australia and New Zealand under last season’s contract was 562 tons on January 1. Stocks of Government cheese—Australian, Canadian, New- Zealand—January 1, 1920, amounted to 11,400 tons, but Ministry points out supply was then below demand in consequence of delay in Australasian shipments. Market last month was quiet, Government allotments being poorly applied for, buyers meeting re- ' quirements from free Canadian at lower price. With delay in arrival of New Zealand, and reduction in Canadian supplies market temporarily firmer, and Government prices have not been reduced. Government stocks being taken up slowly. Arrival' from Now Zealand February-March not likely to be excessive, and tins should help market for first quarter. With larger arrivals, however, it is doubtful whether prices can be maintained. "Government prices of butter are not yet lowered, though reduction of 4d. per lb. retail will be made February 7. At present prices consumption is limited, and for some time allotment on basis of 2 ounces per I'b. has been readily taken up. Production in Denmark reported fairly well maintained; market there is inactive and prices falling off. Supple generally are good, and tendency is towards lower prices. In this oc-nec’ion see my telegram this date reporting conversation with Shipping Officer of Ministry of Food.” A statement that the price of butter will be reduced by 4d. a pound shortly has been made in New Zealand, and has been denied by the chairman of the National Dairy Association. The position is that New.- Zealand’s exportable surplus of butter has been sold to the British Government at a fixed price for the period ending March 31 next. Ihe price is 2s. 6d. per pound, and- the New Zealand Government is subsidising the local consumer to the extent of sixpence per pound in order that the local retail price of butter may be 2s. 3d. There can be no change until after the end oi March. Some retailers, in the meantime, are taking less than the profit allowed them by the regulations, and are selling butter at 2s. Id. and 2s. 2d. per pound What the position will be after March 31 no one can yet say. The New Zealand retail price will depend upon the London price, and also upon the policy of the New Zealand Government in the matter of the subsidy. Some of the producers are expecting that when they get a free market after March 31 they will secure an even better price for their export butter than they are obtaining now. This view is being shaken to some extent by reports from London, where a substantial fall in the price of butter is being anticipated. A DECLINE IN BUTTER PRICES DROP EXPECTED IN ENGLAND . SHORTLY. London, January 28. A further steep decline in butter prices is anticipated after the control ceases. The Food Ministry's stocks are mounting rapidly, and it is generally estimated that the stock by the end of March -will be about 30.000 tons, to which must be added part of the January shipments and all the March shipments; so it appears likely that the Ministry will have to carry 40,000 to 50,000 tons over the summer. In the meantime the supplies greatly exceed the demand. Owing to the almost entire cessation of buying by Germany, Scandinavia, and other European countries, practically the whole of the Danish output is available for Britain. Danish imports into Britain have quadrupled, reaching 1000 tons a week, instead of 500 tons each fortnight. . It is anticipated that this figure will be greatly increased after March, when the English and Irish make will also be in full swing, so that the Ministry will have little chance of reducing its stocks. A decline in copra, oils, and seeds has caused a lowering of the prices of margarine, which is now being retailed at lid. to Is. per lb. Many people predict that butter will be retailed at 2s. before many months, so it appears likely that Australian and New Zealana produce will be faced with comparatively low bads values when the new season opens. -Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.