TRADE WITHIN DOMINION.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20909, 17 July 1933, Page 8

TRADE WITHIN DOMINION.

COASTAL EXPORTS OP CANTERBURY. GREAT VOLUME OF GOODS HANDLED. Although the overseas exports of meat and wool are the main producers of wealth for Canterbury, the province's exports to other parts of the.Dominion of goods that do not go overseas formed last year two-thirds of the total volume of export trade of the ports of Lyttelton and Timaru. Though not so valuable as the overseas trade, the great volume of this coastal trade indicates the extent to which Canterbury supplies the rest of the Dominion with some essential foodstuffs.

The reason for this is that Canterbury is the chief agricultural farming region of the Dominion, while most of the North Island is given over to dairying and sheep farming, and almost all its produce goes overseas. So it is that Canterbury supplies the North Island with 90 per cent, of its wheat, 75 per cent, of its potatoes, 50 per cent, of its oats and chaff, and 80 per cent, of its onions, as well as large quantities of cocksfoot and clover seed. Canterbury's main imports from the rest of New Zealand comprise coal, cement, sugar, and fruit. There is also a considerable cross-trade in manufactured goods.

Figures Analysed. Last 3'ear ihe total export trade (tonnage of cargo handled) of the two ports (coastal, intercolonial, and overseas) was 303,329 tons. Of this, 66 per cent, was coastal trade. For a more detailed comparison the 1931 figures are most useful, as full returns have not vet been compiled for 1932. In 1931 72 per cent, of the total export of 322,125 tons was made up by the coastal trade. The main items under this head—potatoes, flour, wheat, barlej-, oats and oat products, pollard and bran, chaff and hay, and cocksfoot and clover seeds—contributed 152,558 tons, or approximately half the total exports. Proof that these items of Canterbury's export are consumed in New Zealand, and not sent overseas, is afforded by the following table, which sets the combined Lyttelton and Timaru coastal export tonnages against the quantities sent overseas from the whole of New Zealand:—

Canterbury N.Z. total coastal, overseas. Tons. Tons. Flour .. 31.668 4 Barley .. 1,730 \ Chaff and hay 2.477 16 Oats .. 4,628 60 Oatmeal .. 2,065 129 Pollard and bran .. 10,672 12 Potatoes .. 35,476 864 Seeds .. 4,987 2,047 Wheat „. 58,855 11 152,558 3,H3£

Of the items on this list the only one for which there is any considerable overseas export is cocksfoot and clover seed. But while the whole Dominion exported 2047 tons of seed in 1931, half of this was made up by a direct overseas export from Lyttelton and .Timaru, amounting to about 1000 tons, this quantity being additional to the coastal trade in seed. Beyond the items, given, no full classification of the coastal exports is possible, for in the returns of the Harbour Boards manufactured goods are classified under a common "miscellaneous" heading. Overseas Destination. The classification given, it will be noted, makes no allowance for transhipment at other ports to overseas vessels, but this is countered by the fact that the goods named are shown to be almost entirely consumed in the Dominion. The grand total of coastal export trade, however, will include a certain quantity of goods, with an ultimate overseas destination, but onty an infinitesimal part of the export trade in Canterbury's main produce—meat and wool, etc.—is handled by coastal vessels. The direct .overseas export from the two ports of this main produce in 1931 was worth about four times as much as the whole coastal trade, and was made up as follows: Tons. Meat .. .. 42,559 Tallow .. .. 6,017 Wool .. .. 23,345 Pelts .. .. 2,716 Beans and Peas .. 1,916 Butter and cheese 3,932 Other .. .. 9,013 Total ... 90,008 Of these items outwards coastal vessels handled only 3659 tons (wool 2030 tons, was the largest item). In arriving at any full estimate of the range, nature, and value of Canterbury's trade with the rest of the Dominion (as apart from direct or ultimate overseas trade) many further facts must be taken into .consideration. Unfortunately the greater part of the necessary information has not been classified in any governmental or other statistical survey. No statistics are compiled to show the destination or origin of the goods handled in this coastal trade, no returns are made of the quantity and nature of the goods carried by rail over the borders of the province into j Westland or Otago, or in the oppo- j site direction, and no record is kept of goods carried by road.