NEW HIGH RECORDS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 128, 23 February 1939, Page 10

NEW HIGH RECORDS

Factory Production In New Zealand NOTABLE FIGURES Over 100,000 Employed 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 193738 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, £10,827,593 (£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 costs 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). The Main 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, value of products. Persons Engaged. NumIndustry. ber. Clothing 12,916 Coachbuilding and motor engineering 9,909 Sawmilling 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 Ooachbuildlug 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 5,58.8,433 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 The Dairying Industry. Outstanding features of the statistics relating to the operations of dairy factories are the fall in the physical volume of production and the increase in the value of products and pay-out 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., pay-out.—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 earlage 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 utilized for buttermaking, 20.5 per cent, for cheesemaking, and 0.9 per cent, for the manufacture of condensed milk, dried milk, etc. The quantities 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 witli 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. Sawmilling Activity. 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 cent, and 14 per cent, respectively. “Added value” advanced by £435,314, or by 14 per cent. There were 39 1 mills engaged In the production of rough-sawn timber during tlie year 1937-38, an increase of 9 over the 1936-37 figure. The output of rougli-suwn 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 rimn accounted for 57 per cent of Ihe total production, kaliikatea I I per cent., and pinus radiala H per ent. Willi the exception •>( kaliikalea which recorded a decrease of more than 3.296.0(161’1. b.m. all tile chief species of rough-sawn limber produced '-bowed increases for 1937-38 as compared with 1936-37.