HEAVY IMPORTATIONS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 65, 14 September 1923, Page 8

HEAVY IMPORTATIONS

Should the trouble on the West Coast be prolonged there will undoubtedly be a pinch, £ut the position will be considerably relieved by the heavy importations of Newcastle coal since the beginning of last month, and in accordance with arrangements made for future shipments. , Commenting on these importations recently, the secretary of the Coal Miners' Association, Mr. T. 0. Bishop said:—

"Since Ist August up to the present time 50,000 tons of coal have been shipped from Newcastle to New Zealand ports, and importations are continuing at the rate of not less than 10,000 tons a week. It will therefore be readily understood that Dominion mine owners are experiencing difficulty in holding their trade together, and that any interruption of our production, such as the recent stoppages on the West Coast mines, can have only one- effect, and that would be to cause local consumers to lay in stocks of Newcastle or other overseas coal, as they did two years ago. If that happens our mines will again be reduced to working only part-time. Th» situation would be critical for the miner* themselves, and in their own interest*, if for no other reason, it is to be hoped that they will stick to their work and do nothing calculated to make the position worse than it is."