JAP WOOL TEXTILE OUTPUT RISING AT CUT-RATE PRICES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 53, 14 February 1949, Page 7

JAP WOOL TEXTILE OUTPUT RISING AT CUT-RATE PRICES

The production of woollen and worsted yarn and cloths in Japan during 1947 reached a total of 26,106,0001bs and 20,676,000 square yards respectively. For the first six months of 1948, the production of woollen and worsted yarn was 11,424,0001bs and of woollen and worsted cloths 10,597,000 square yards. Stocks of wool in Japan at the end of June 1948 amounted to 2,756,000 lbs. It is understood, reports the Indian office of the International Wool Secretariat, that under a plan announced by the Commissioner for the Restoration of the Woollen Industry in Tokyo, by,l9s(fethe industry will have a working spindleage of 732,885, which is about 45 per cent of its 1940 capacity of 1,628,554 spindles. Alleged Price-Cutting Since the Japanese mills were permitted to enter into private trade negotiations there have been reports about the offering of Japanese wool textiles in India at less than current market prices. There is, however, no evidence as to the quantity involved or of the quality of the goods. Recently, replying to a question in the British Parliament, Mr Harold Wilson, President of the Board of Trade, said that he had been informed that in some cases Japanese cloths Were being offered in British West Africa at lower prices than those of comparable U.K. goods, and that he was having enquiries made as to the reason fpr this difference. He added, in reply to a further question, that if unfair Jap. competition were to develop in overseas markets he would consider what steps were appropriate. He did not accept the suggestion that the recent Japanese Trade Agreement would necessarily result in such competition.