POTATO MARKET STILL WEAK

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 110, 30 July 1927, Page 12

POTATO MARKET STILL WEAK

SOUTHERN PROSPECTS BIG NORTHERN SHIPMENTS (Special to THE SUN.) CHRISTCHURCH, Friday. Potatoes are still at a very low ebb, and prospects for the future are not bright. Late last week there was a burst of activity which led some merchants to hope for desired firming, but the movement was but a flash in the pan, and the market fell away to the low rates ruling early this week. The Wingatui carries 8,000 sacks North this week-end, and the Katoa will leave on Monday with Timaru and Lyttelton shipments amounting to some thousands of sacks. In view of the supplies provided for the North, it is difficult to see how the market can firm immediately. The opinion is generally held, however, that it will not drop much, if any, further. Some merchants attribute the continued low prices to the effect of paper dealings. They maintain, it is fairly generally conceded, that the crop is short and that fairly soon the potato scarcity will be able to be disguised no longer.

In this connection it is interesting to note that the supplementary statistics of the potato crop have been gathered in a manner differing slightly from the custom followed previously. Up till the present the farmer has, as a rule, stated the estimated quantity of the table potatoes he has had. This was the form in which this year’s early figures were supplied. The supplementary cards provide for the total of pig, seed and table potatoes. It is possible, therefore, that the supplementary returns may not differ very materially from those originally sent in, while there may be a great actual difference between the estimated quantity of the table grade, and actual quantity dug and noted on the statistics card. Holders of July potatoes have had to take delivery, and sacrifices have resulted. Sales have been made as low as 90s f.o.b- s.i. for shipment this week. Small North Island orders were later received at 92s 6d. These cheap quotations are affecting the August-September prices, which range from 95s for August, to £ 5 for August to September deliveries. There is an inquiry for September alone at 97s 6d, but these lots seem harder to get. The hair-splitting follows upon the bad condition of the market. There is a good inquiry from Wellington for Dakotas. This variety has been sold at £6 f.o.b. s.i. for prompt August delivery. The price to farmers on trucks at country station for ordinary potatoes is £3 10s, equal to 95s f.o.b- for prompt delivery.