BRITISH TRADE.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 May 1929, Page 8

BRITISH TRADE.

COAL MARKETS REGAINED. 140 BLAST FURNACES AT WORK. LONDON, April 10. Sir Phillip Cunliffe-Lister, president if the Board of Trade, speaking at the liinual dinner of the Association of Jritish Chambers of Commerce, said he was hopeful for the future of British trade—-hopeful not in any loose spirit of optimism hut from his daily contact with men of affairs who were basing their judgment upon actual experience. There were many factors that made him reasonably hopeful. 4 bey had peace in industry, which was, perhaps the greatest tiling of all. He found to-day not only a closer understanding between employers and employed, but a much greater co-operation between the manulacturcr and the trader. He was having a quarterly census ol production, and he was seeing production undoubtedly on the up grade and more economical production at that, lie was seeing markets regained, even coal markets, which one thought two years ago must have gone for ever. He was seeing shipbuilding orders being placed on a scale they had not seen for years ,nnd he knew no better barometer of what the prospects o' trade were than the orders which shipowners gave for ships. He found that the trade balance had increased by at least IMoO.dOU during the last two years. The process ol rationalisation was going in. All this talk about the inefficiency of British plant was greatly over-rated. What was needed was reorganisation of industry, to utilise efficient plant to the best advantage. He saw increasing appreciation of the importance of salesmanship and ol Macing tlie right man at the top—the man who would not only he a travellei but an intelligent officer 'to report what was required so that mamtfae Hirers might meet and anticipate local demands. No Government was going to make success Ipr them. I liev must mftke it themselves, and they had great assets at their disposal. IRON AND COAL. The production statistics confirm the reports of greatly increased activity in the iron and steel trades. The output of steel in March"at almost 8(50,000 tons was the heaviest recorded in any mouth since the* exceptional period after the coal stoppage. There as little indication of any immediate slackening in either steel or pig iron production; the number of active bias'furnaces at the end of the month was 115, or 13 more than at the beginning of the year.

All the chief iron and steel producing areas continue to give a very encouraging account of the state of trade. Home needs arc large and expanding, and overseas enquiries are gradually improving. Producers, most of whom are already fairly well sold, promise 1 1 he kept busily employed over the second quarter of the year. Shipbuilding demands arc large. Stocks (Jl pig iron are very small, and producers, having disposed of nearly the whole ol their output to the end of the half-year, are endeavouring to enlarge output. One or two more blast furnaces arc to he relighted, supplies of coke being on a hotter scale.

While the pressure in the coal export market is less marked than before Easter, there is still considerable activity which promises to he fairly wet maintained during the current month. For May, the outlook, as anticipated, is somewhat unsettled owing to the prospect of renewed competition from the Continent and the increased suplily of coal. The British collieries however, have a good.many orders in hand. Outputs are likely to show a very substantial increase with the larger number of men engaged now that the influenza epidemic has subsid

id. In South Wales outputs exceeding i ,000,000 tons a week are expected to become the normal thing, with something like 20,000 more men engaged than last November. Shipments ol anthracite to Canada have now started.