FACTORY PRODUCTION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 February 1939, Page 11

FACTORY PRODUCTION

CONTINUED EXPANSION SHOWN MORE THAN 102,000 WORKERS EMPLOYED. OUTPUT & OTHER FIGURES FOR 1938. The high level of factory production established in 1936-37 was more than maintained during 1937-38. which set new records under all headings, according to the latest Abstract of Statistics. Outstanding features of the 1937-38 statistics are the number of persons engaged in industry (which for the first time exceeds the 100,000 mark) ,the salaries and wages bill of £21,000.000, and the substantial rise to £113,700,000 in the value of output. Details for 1937-38 are as follows (the figures for 1936-37 being given in parentheses): Number of establishments, 5924 (5728); persons engaged, 102,344 (96,401); salaries and wages paid, £20,981,587 (£18.333,077); motive power, 832,750 h.p. (744,549 h.p.); cost of materials used, £75,084,173 (£70.668,075); other expenses of manufacture, £lO,827,593 (£10,751,343); value of products, £113,691.556 (£105,941.722); added value (difference between value of products and cost of materials), £38,607,383: value of land and buildings. £25,573,741 (£24,445,338); value of plant and machinery, £47,164,981 (£45,151,927). The total operating cost incurred in factory production for the year 193738 amounted to £106.893,353, made up as follows: Salaries and wages paid, £20,981,587; cost of materials used, £75.084,173; and other expenses of manufacture, £10,827,593. The value of products aggregated £113,691,556, which leaves a manufacturing surplus of £6,798,203. This surplus represents 9 per cent Of the value of land, buildings. machinery and plant, £72,738,722). PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES. The principal industries covered by the factory production statistics for 1937-38 are now given, grouped in order of magnitude for persons engaged, salaries and wages paid, and value of products. Persons Engaged. NumIndustry ber. Clothing 12,916 Coachbuilding and motor engineering 9,909 Sawmilling v 8,364 Printing and publishing" 8,153 Meat freezing, etc 7,835 Butter and cheese 4,128 General engineering 3,898 Electric supply 3,427 Biscuit and confectionery 3,208 Furniture 3,145 Salaries and Wages Paid. Industry £ Meat-freezing, etc 2,188,102 Coachbuilding and motor engineering 2,120,280 Sawmilling 1,936,901 Printing and publishing 1.899,062 Clothing 1,542,933 Butter and cheese 1,040,754 Electric supply 929,686 General engineering 874,911 Furniture 626,628 Gas supply .... .... .... .499,303 Value of Products. Industry £ Butter and cheese 27,767,288 Meat-freezing, etc 21,227,641 Electric supply 5,691,941 Coachbuilding and motor engineering 5,588,433 Sawmilling 5,061,133 Printing and publishing 4,839,449 Clothing 3,962,056 Grain-milling 2.574,944 General engineering 2,445,495 Brewing and malting 1,930,057

DAIRYING OPERATIONS. Outstanding features of the statistics relating to the operations of daify factories are the fall in the physical volume of production and the increase in the value of products and payout as compared with the year 1936-37. Persons engaged in dairy factories during 1937-38 numbered 4128, a decrease of 190 as compared ■ with 193637. Salaries and wages paid advanced, however, by £7991. The cost of butterfat— i.e., payout—increased from £23,207,798 in -1936-37 to £24,263.257 for the year under review, an increase of 5 per cent. The cost of milk and cream cartage decreased by 8 per cent, and the cost of materials other than milk and cream fell by 2 per cent. The value of production moved up by approximately £900.000. Of the 383,037,4691 b. of butterfat received by dairy companies during 193738, 78.6 per cent was utilised for buttermaking, 20.5 per cent for cheesemaking, and 0.9 per cent for the manufacture of condensed milk, dried milk, etc. The qualities of butterfat used for buttermaking and cheesemaking declined by 7 per cent and 2 per cent respectively as compared with the year 1936-37. Butterfat used for the manufacture of condensed and dried milk, etc., increased by 18 per cent.

The quantities of butter and cheese made during 1937-38 declined by 7 per cent and 3 per cent respectively, as compared with the year 1936-37. Whey butter produced showed an increase of 3287 cwt. or 7 per cent. The values of each of these three products recorded increases—butter, 1 per cent; cheese, 10 per cent; and whey butter, 16 per cent. THE TIMBER INDUSTRY. The increased activity of the sawmilling industry in 1936-37 was advanced a further stage during 1937-38. All-round increases'are recorded for the year 1937-38 as compared with the year 1936-37: Establishments reporting operations during 1937-38 totalled 474, as against 467 in 1936-37. The average number of persons engaged in the industry during the year was 8364. or 359 more than in the previous year; while salaries and wages paid increased from £1,669,597 in 1936-37 to £1,936,901 in 1937-38. an increase of 16 per cent. The cost of materials used and the value of products rose by 15 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. "Added value” advanced by £435,314, or by 14 per cent. There were 394 mills engaged in the production of rough-sawn timber during the year 1937-38, an increase of 9 over the 1936-37 figure. The output of rough-sawn timber for 1937-38 aggregated 322.765,786 ft. b.m.. or 16,876,368 ft. b.m. more than for the previous year. This volume of production is the greatest since 1925-26 (353,224.196 ft b.m.). Of the various species of timber milled, rimu accounted for t>7 per cent of the total production, kahikatea 14 per cent, and pinus radiata 11 per cent. With the exception of kahikatea which recorded a decrease of more than 3,296,000 ft. b.m.—all the chief species of rough-sawn timber produced showed increases for 1937-38 as compared with 1936-37.