EXPANSION OF STEEL INDUSTRY URGED

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31011, 17 March 1966, Page 1

EXPANSION OF STEEL INDUSTRY URGED

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, March 16. The future of a greatly expanded steel industry resulting from the ironsands scheme could be extremely attractive, said Mr C. Anderson, director of operations of Pacific Steel, Ltd., at a meeting of the Institution of Engineers tonight.

He described the history of the first—and only—steel - producing plant in New Zealand, and explained the basis of its establishment and choice of products.

“The question we must all ask ourselves is whether the expansion of the industry is really attractive from the national point of view.” Mr Anderson supported an expanded steel industry by pointing out that last year New Zealand spent £24m in overseas exchange on the importation of steel—B per cent of the country’s export earnings.

“Home production from indigenous raw materials of a major part of a commodity that absorbs 8 per cent of our overseas earnings is most attractive,” he said. “Remember that the present requirements of about 500,000 tons yearly will increase to 800,000 by 1980.”

His second reason for supporting an increased steel industry concerned the attraction of a major steel complex to ancillary and related industries. “The steel industry is a big consumer of a host of commodities,” he said. Third, there would be a rapid growth in skill and technology to sustain the industry. It would be essential to have engineers of all types, physicists, chemists, metallurgists, accountants, and other professional skills. “The boost which the industry will give to the educational facilities, and interest generated in potential students,, will be a real national benefit” he said. Viewing the present world steel situation, he said that in 1964 there was 42m tons of spare steel-making capacity, and recent reports by two of

Britain’s largest steel-makers stated that marginal profit on the export prices they were at present able to get was almost impossible to achieve. “TOUGH CONDITIONS” “These will be tough conditions under which our expansion is to take place,” said Mr Anderson, “but they must be faced squarely if the country is to set up its own industry at any point in its national industrial development. “The phased development proposed commends itself, as it generates time to overcome the problems of setting up a new production facility with all that means. It could be based on the new initial process without the danger of having expensive rolling equipment standing idle, as this can be fed from imported semi-finished products."