The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1930. THE BOTTER MARKET.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 November 1930, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1930. THE BOTTER MARKET.

iiiE reality ul lue stump m L;ie butlei- nuiiivot ill Dome, n-.s been brought home to the uairy sui-pners or _v,-w Zealand of late oy the u eel me m the progress payments for butter fat. Jr,at "’hat is wrong with the Dominion article at Home is not clear. Air i< orbes has drawn pointed attention to the disparity in puce with the foreign article imported from Denmark, but there is not any adequate explanation of the situation and the depressed price stands. The annual review by Messrs W. Weddel and Company, of Mmithfield, upon the imported dairy produce trade of the United Kingdom for thu year ended on June 80 last unfortunately holds out small hope of an immediate recovery in prices. Indeed, the report remarks that ‘The ye nr elided with trade generally in a deplorable condition, arid with nr confidence bn the part Of anyone concern ed iin the future of the butter marked 1 l'iio'e nre many reasons, says an exchange, advanced for the low prices that ruled during the period, tho beginning of the trouble being traced back to the American stock markets slump in 1929, "since which time the i trade of most countries has experienced a period of acute depression. An improvement in pricer? for butter occurred at the end of September, and was maintained throughout October, owing to a dry season on the Continent and a consequent shortage in supplies, but after this values fell again, and by April last were ac an “absurdly low level.” A sharp upward rise at the end of the period covered by the report has not been maintained. and at the present time price* for New Zealand butter • are again very low. The drop which occurred from October, 1929, is. attributed to some extent to the reduced consumption of butter due to general trade depression, which alone would have been quite sufficient to produce a weakness in the market, but : t is emphasised that the almost unprecedented slump was chiefly caused by the .world-wide depreciation of the wholesale value of nearly all commodities accompanied by extreme financial! stringency in many quarters. This explanation, it is scarcely necessary to remark, gives ooint to the agitation among responsible representatives ol the farming and commercial communities in this Dominion for a reduction in production costs consonant with the new low level in prices for products. While the report thus explains the general lowering in values oi butter, it reveals, without explaining, another tendency in the market which has been particularly disturbing to the New Zealand producer. This is the widening disparity between the prices on Smith field for Danish and New Zealand butter respectively. Until the middle of August last year New Zealand buffer was selling in the 'neighbourhood of 172 s per cwt., with Danish dropping gradually from 178 s to 1725, but when tlm Continental simvtage made itself felt it was i?iuodii.d by imnorts from Denmark, and the price of the Danish o'odmt rose to over 200 s. From November to ihe 'middtp of Anril all prices dropped in n record post-war level, New /eMan I butte’ 1 bringing 1245, and Danish reaching, towards the end ol the P f ’’- iod. its lowest point. I?.‘K \t the end of .Tune Danish butter rcaeimd Wfis. with New Zealand eight shillings cheaper. Uatest onotuiuons ha\c shown that tho differences m price have wid°nod to a marked extent, Im w' ile Djuv«h has dropped to 1395. the price for No" 1 Zealand is as much as oo s pwor. Tbo latest, floatation v. ith New Zealand b’dler at 192* is 3 'S lower than Danish. This scum is <’dforeneo between the price of New Zealand butter and (hat of the butter supplied hv the most important competitor of this Dominion is milv uariiv nvH-ipod In- the fact that the Danis 1 ' article has latelv beer in cnmnvnv! a profitable market in Germany ami

elsewhere on the Continent. Messrs Weddel and Company lay stress on tho fact that in spite of the rapidly expanding'output “the high standard of quality which has ahvayq been maintained for New Zealand butter remains unimpaired,” and i* is not possible, therefore, to attribute the relative decline in the price of the New Zealand commodity to a deterioration in the quality of the product which we export. There must* he some explanation, however, that it is most desirable that producers in New Zealand should learn what it is. The notorious fact that a not insignificant proportion of the New Zealand butler that in received in Great Britain is blended with other butters--some of it with butter of an inferior .quality, the blend thein being sold as New Zealand/ produce—docs not contribute to tho preservation of a ,-ood name for the Dominion article, but it dors not account for the discrepancy between the prices realised for Danish and New Zealand butter. It is to be hoped that the Prime Minister v'll have time, before he leaves Fug!and, to investigate the whole position, with tho Hsnlt that that he may bo able to advise the producers concerning such measures as should be ndooted to secure for their produce a price that j will be as commensurate as in the past with the quality of their output.