More Imports in the Months to Come?
UK - Producers took the brunt of the cost-price squeeze in 2007 and this year it will be the processors' turn, predicts NPA chairman Stewart Houston.
5 March 2009
2 minute read
"In fact it has already started," Mr Houston said yesterday, "And it signals problems for producers because it could mean more imports in the months ahead."
The problem, he said, is that some retailers are starting to use their disproprotionate buying clout to put unreasonable pressure on processors to hold down prices.
"This is bad news for processors because it puts them in an awkward position, and of course it is potentially bad news for us," he said. "Who would have thought that this year we may have to start doing battle on behalf of the middle link in the chain?"
