EXPLOITATION OF ELECTRICITY

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21971, 21 December 1936, Page 10

EXPLOITATION OF ELECTRICITY

TRADE RECOVERY AFTER RECENT DEPRESSION EFFECT OF WIRELESS ON POSITION The whole story of the commercial exploitation of electricity covers les* than .100 years. Except indeed that news was gathered more quickly, the application of electricity had scarcely affccied even the towns by 1882. when the first public supply stations were ooened in London and New York. A “Survey of the Trade in Electrical Machinery and Apparatus,” recently issued by the Imperial Economic Committee. shows that in 1929 electrical equipment worth £106,000.000 was exported by the 14 countries which cover the bulk of this trade. Their exports fell to £57.000,000 in 1933. but by 1935 had recovered to £70.500.000. Seriously as the depression hit the trade in electrical goods, its influence was mitigated partly by the widespread increase in the use of electrical equipment and partly by the growth of wireless broadcasting. Since 1933, wireless apparatus has accounted for about one-quarter of the value of the world trade in electrical equipment. Exports of capital equipment such as generators and motors, and also of insulated wire and cable, were very adversely affected by the depression. Nevertheless, these have accounted for about one-eighth and one-tenth of world exports respectively in recent years. The trade in other kinds of electrical goods is relatively less important. United Kingdom Exports The principal competitors in the world market are Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, their exports in 1835 amounting to £18.500,000, £16.333,000 and nearly £14,000.000 respectively. Together these three countries account for about twothirds of the world trade. A more rapid recovery in exports from the United Kingdom enabled that country to secure in 1935 a better position against its two principal competitors than it had held in 1929. The United Kingdom is now the largest exporter of electrical machinery such as generators, motors, transformers, ahd converters, of insulated wire and cable, of telegraph and telephone apparatus, and of accumulators. It ranks second to the United States in the export of batteries, third as an exporter of lamp bulbs, and fourth in the export of wireless apparatus and meters and instruments. The United Kingdom is not only one of the principal exporters of electrical equipment, it is o4e of the chief importers. In 1935 the Union of South Africa, the United Kingdom and India were the three largest markets in the world for imports of electrical goods. Examining the imports into 31 countries, the survey points out that eight Empire countries accounted for over one-third of the total value in 1929. Their share of the trade fell until 1932. but it has since recovered. Trend in the Dominions A section of the survey examines the trend in the Dominions and India. It is shown that the use of electricity in each of these countries is increasing and. with the rising consumptipn. new plant has been installed. Canada is the only one of the Empire countries overseas where there is at present a large scale production of electrical equipment. The most recent information available for the other countries shows that their production is increasing although it is mainly confined to the lighter kinds of equipment. India and the Dominions, with the exception of Canada, import their requirements mostly from the United Kingdom. A considerable part of the survey is devoted to an account of the electrical manufacturing industry—its production, home market and export tradein each of the eight orincipal exporting countries. A growing home market has in recent years encouraged the expansion of electrical manufacturing in the United Kingdom, but exports remain an important factor governing the activity of the industry. In the United States, exports are of relatively minor significance to the manufacturer of electrical equipment. In Germany, as much as one-half of the sales by the large manufacturers have in some years been for export, though for the industry as a whole, sales abroad would' not often exceed one-quarter of the total.