THE BUTTER MARKET

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2136, 11 March 1908, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BUTTER MARKET

Writing under date London Jan. 25., Messrs Weddell and Co. report on the dairy market as follows i-Butte . The climatic conditions during past week have been of a mixed type, sunshine, frost, fog, ram, and calm

The demand for New Zealand and Australian butter continues firm, and those Liverpool sellers who last week were pressing sales on the London market by a reduction of prices are now holding out for full values The cables conveying reports of busli hies in Australia and New Zealand, with extreme high temperatures have caused the trade to recognise the tact that supplies from both sources will not only be less in bulk but that shipments will cease sooner than was expected. Bush fires are the result ot very dry and hot weather, which always seriously diminishes the flow of milk, and consequently the supply of butter and- cheese is reduced. The shipments this week from Australia consists of 30,000 boxes in the “Victoria,” and 6,500 in the “Naming.” The next vessel leaving New Zealand sails in about seven days. The imports of colonial butter -last ivcok were 54,628 cwts., against 56,552 cwts. from all other sources, and for the last three weeks they have averaged more than tlio Danish. Thcso figures show" how largely the Homo market is dependent upon supplies from Australasia.

Tho market for foreign butter remains firm, although Danish is easier in the North of England. In other continental butters there is no change dn price. Tho imports of butter from France last week wero 7188 cwts., against 1097 for tho previous week. The Customs’ authorities explain that a part of the 7188 cwts., should have been entered for the previous week. The new regulations under the Butter and Margarine Act require all importers of butter to declare it either “Milk Blended Butter” or “Other than Milk Blended,” and many importers of the previous week filled up their forms incorrectly, and tho delay over this matter has caused the import last week to appear much more than it was actually. Still, if the imports for the two weeks be added together, and then halved, tho quantity for each week averages over 4000 cwts., which is far more than tho average for each of the three previous weeks, and as butter remains much dearer in France than hero, this sudden rise in the quantity imported requires further investigation. It will be noticed that the total import of butter last week from all sources was nearly 38,000 cwts; more than the weekly average for the previous month. Last year and tho year before, the imports for the third week in January also showed a very large increase on the previous month Cheeso.—The market for Canadian and New Zealand cheese is very slow. Prices are firm at unchanged rates rates for Canadian; but a shilling per cwt. lower for New Zealand.