STOCKS DWINDLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 13, 16 January 1941, Page 8

STOCKS DWINDLE.

CHEMISTS' PROBLEM. OILS, DRUGS, TOILET GOODS. Unfulfilled oroers placed by chemists throughout New Zealand with wholesale distributors have been steadilv accumulating as a result of shortages or the disappearance of stocks of numerous lines. The difficulty, which has been intensified through the loss of shipments and delays arising from war conditions in Britain, was stated to-day to have had its origin in the early months of import restrictions in the Dominion. "We have scores of orders which we have had to strike off our I>ooks because there is no prospect that we shall be able to supply them." said a leading Auckland merchant in the drug trade thi" morning. "In many other instances we. are compelled to ration according to our stocks. Oils, toilet goods and vitamins are among the lines that are very scarce or unobtainable." The major part of the trade in imported toilet goods had been wiped out as a result of Oovermnent prohibitions, he stated, and lines which were still being allowed to enter the Dominion ; were often subject to delays of six months or more due to the 'difficulties of British exporters. Olive oil, formerly obtained chiefly from France and Italy. had been out of stock for a period of months, and other seed oils, including castor, almond and cotton seed oils] were affected to a considerable extent. Cod liver oil was scarce, and a substitute produced in Britain by mixing vitamins with seed oils was not at present available in sufficient quantities for New Zealand requirements. A search for substitutes for various toilet goods which had disappeared or were becoming short was exercising the ingenuity, both of merchants " and chemists, he said. Where local products were being drawn upon the manufacturers were experiencing some difficulty in securing suitable packages. The shortage of small tins, bottles and other containers, and also of screw tops and cans presented many difficulties. There was also a scarcity of lipstick containers. The manufacture of these thing* in New Zealand was not easy to arrange under war conditions, and where it could be undertaken extra costs had to be faced