BUTTER DECLINE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 31, 20 February 1937, Page 14

BUTTER DECLINE

Lnodon Agent Blames N.Z. Government NO SPECULATION A New Zealand merchant house, eliminated from the dairy produce export business through the Government Marketing Scheme, has received from a • large importer and dealer in dairy produce in the United Kingdom (not an | agent of the Marketing Department of.; the New Zealad Govermnent in Lon-j ! don) a letter dated London, Januaryi j 28, 1937, received by air mail in New 1 Zealand on February 16, and reading asj I follows: — ' I "You no doubt know the trend of thej butter market, and have noticed the de-! cline which has . occurred during the • last month or six weeks. In our opin- j ion this has not been due to any statistical situation; we feel that it is almost entirely due to the method of marketing ' adopted by the New Zealand Government since the Labour Party came. into power. It is & most remarkablething that they seem to think that spe-! eulation on their product is detrimental to the interests of the producer, while ias a matter of faet there is no possible .argument in favour of this opinion. ■Take cheese for example — to-day New Zealand cheese, which. is practically un- ■ obtainable here, is selling at 52s, after a severe declihe from 74s at the time the first arrivals of Govwnment-con-trolled cheese came to this eountry, If it were possible for the large Tooley gtreet interests to ipeculate in New Zealand eheese, we are certain the price would be at least 60s, and possibly higher, for one reason alone* there is practically ,none obtainable; but the parties who in the past have sustained the cheese- market by spe.culation and intelligent anticipation are not to-day allowed to speculate in this product. "Canadian cheese is selling at 72s becau&e the buyers of Canadian cheese ^during the producing season had to purchase this cheese from the producer, and therefore the situation that is existing here to-day pee no reason whatever to do anything but make a profit on their purchases; almost the opposite occurs in New Zealand cheese. "Take Danish butter selling at 120s to-day, and a good demand. New Zealand butter 89s, with three of the largest importing coiisignment houees auxioua to support the market if they were allowed, not only because they feel that prices are now enough, but because they hold large quantities of Australian and European butter which cosfc them much higher prices, and on which they will now probably lose quite a lot of money because they cannot support ' the New Zealand market, which is sagging almost every day. "Dutch butter which was last summer sold at 12s discount under New Zealand is now at a 4s premium over New Zealand. Polish butter, which this last summer was sold at 20s under New Zealand, is to-day making, the same price, and in fact New Zealand butter is the cheapest on ths market here to-day with the easception of Argentine. "We have tried to search everywhere for any other reason than the present marketing system adopted by the New Zealand Government, but we are unable to find one. "We have had extremely bad weather here, practically no winter, and conditions are not at the present time f avourable to & large consumption of butter. Stocks here are much heavier than last year, being 884,000 boxea against 375,900 at the same time last year, but we anticipate a very good demand during April, May, and June, owing to the Coronation, and do not think thess present stocks ari excessivs wkor, everything'is considered." ■