BUTTER PRICES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 704, 2 December 1933, Page 4

BUTTER PRICES

It is distinctly gratifying to see that there are prospects of some practical steps being taken to alter the present unsatisfactory system of marketing butter in London. " Action should have been taken long ago, but better late than never and it is to be sincerely hoped that the movement started in Australia will bear good fruit. The slump of butter to 71s to 74s per cwt. shows quite clearly that there is something wrong somewhere. ' Danish is still, apparently, com- 1 manding sale at 112s, and this disparity in price aldne is sufficient ground for the closest investigation upon new lines of marketing thought. So far as quality is concerned there is no justification for this wide diiference between the price paid for Danish and Australasian products. There seems to have been .close scrutiny into this phase of the question and our experts seem confident that that there has been no deterioration in the artiele "produced in this part of the world. We must, perforce, therefore look to the marketing end to find the trouble and apply a remedy without delay. It may be a painful one to commence with, but once that

remedy is tound it shouid prove a lasting benefit to the iirdustry in this part of the world. The cable message receive'd^ from Sydney yesterday poi^ts qut that the price of Austrajian, butter dropped £13 to £15 a ton in 11 days and we may reasonably take it that such a fall had nothing to do with quality. It was clearly the result of glutting the market with supplies and placing the dairy farmers at the merey of bad business methods. The objection to the adoption of a quota system or any form of restriction is deep-rooted in New Zealand, but it is plain enough that dairymen will have to face some form of regulation or the conse.quences , to tlie in'dustry will";be disastrous. The Australian Dairy Produce Export Board proposes that butter should not be sold in London at the present prices and it is contended that just as much would go into consumption at 80s per cwt. as at 70 s and the contention is abundantly sound. Our butter should be in a position to command 80s and upwards at any time if the mismanagement of shipments did not flood the markets at critical price periods. However, it must be freely admitted that the problem is not easy of solution. The best brains in the dairy industry have recently been applied to these marketing difficulties with practieally no success, but it is still justifiable to hope that a way may be found out if the question is attacked from an entirely new angle. The necessity for prompt and effective action can be seen from the latest market records from London. The low price has caus- ■ a slight increase in demand, but nothing strong enough to offset the heavy arrivals. Some of the biggest customers are, naturally, taking advantage of the glut and holding off for a still further drop in prices. On the other hand importers are anxious to clear out their stocks to make room for new shipments arriving so it can be realised how the producer is suffering between these two market influences. There can be no doubt whatever that the opinion of the trade at Home is in favour of regulation of supplies, but the Tooley Street view seems to be 'that New Zealand is unlikely to agree to any restriction upon export and without co-operation Australia cannot do much to relieve the situation. Nevertheless, the leaders of the industry in the Dominion are fully alive to the serious nature of the position which has ar.isen upon a flooded market and they will not fail to e'xplore ways antj'nfeans of averting further disaster.