BRITISH INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 50, 27 August 1931, Page 12

BRITISH INDUSTRY

SHIPBUILDING SLACK

CONTRACTS FOR OVERSEAS : ~!."Evening Post," 27th August.' i From, official information received, by; the British Trade Commissioner in New Zealand (llr. L. A. l?aish) the number of blast furnaces in operation' in Great Bri-i tairj was increased during JMay. Outputs of pig ivon and steel also showed increases ovet previous months, but compared' with May of 1930 they_were |ess, returns being as under: — »;• :•..-; ■•'. , ; ■ ■May. Pig Iron. ' ' Steel.' '. , Tons.' ' ,Tdns. ■ . •1900 . ....... 614.500..".. 691,900 • ! "1931 ...... 316,500 ■ 433,100 . The important . sliipbuililing . industry on . Lloyds returns' sliowed that' at 30th June last 101 merchant :vessels/representing " 55a>603 gross tons were under construction iv British and, Irish'yards, .compai'ed with 311 vessels of 1,392,063 gross ton's as at 30tli June, 1930. The nationality, of the vessels,in tonnage under construction, at 30th June. 1931 was Great Britain and Ireland, 387.135; British Dominions,'23,2lo; Norway, 81,954; Mexico, 3456; Portugal, 2300; Belgium, 800; 'Frahciji 634; Spain, 200;. Other countries not.1 stated or for sale/53,431; total, 555,003 tons. ■ Construction in all other countries at 30th ■ Juue last totalled 1,270,384 gross tons, Ofvwhich 30i;489.wasin the United States, 211,940 in France, 170,658 in Italy; 130,051 in -Germany, 110,355 in Sweden,, and 108,299 in Holland.' The largest number of motor-ships under construction in any country was 189 of .870.698-gross tons, .in Great Britain 1 and Ireland; the largest number iin any other country was- 34 vessels of. a gross' tonnage of 102,954, and that was in Holland; Germany came next in point.of numbers with 26 vessels .of 118,395 gross tons.. ■■'~. . . . ' ; The 70,000 tons new Cunard liner, un-j der construction, is to be ready by the autumn;of .1933. ■-.' . i _ . ' . : TANKERS FOR AMERICA. \ The- Eurness Shipbuilding! Cbmpanyre^ centiy launched the second.of .the two 'oil*. tankers they are building for the Lakeg and St.. Lawrence eervice oE the British American Oil Company, Ltd! The yesi sel, the'.Britamolene; vas scarcely a. v/eelj behind her .sister, the Britamoil. ,Th^ two have been constructed in ■ less. than four months. ' - ' ' ' ' I Another recent launch on the NorthEast Coast was that of the. large oiltanjeer Pan Bolivar, which Messrs. Swan; Hunter,' and Wigham Rieliardson are building for the Pan-American Petroleum and' Transport Company, .qf New York, ■with a carrying ' capacity of 14,000 tons. The Cargo will be carried iv ten' main holds/five'on each side of a centre line bulkhead.- ' ' ■ ; :The'whaler Kosmos 11. for the Kosmbs Whaling .Company, of- Sandefjord, has been completed by Messrs. Workman! Clark (1928), Ltd., of Belfast, and after trial trips has-gone to Norway, where she •will lie up for, a year. Her owners oh taking over Kosmbs 11. said she was "one of the biggest achievements in ship building." . .'; ,;.-...•■■ ■•;.' . ' '.. . ..; Four destroyers are to be built for. Portugal. ..-.-,- L : ENGINEERING CONTRACTS. . New: business reported in May included additional six-wheeled, .lorries for KenyaUganda . Railwaysj ..oil burners for the ! new Cunardei", being built on s the. Clyde; an order for sixteen high-powered locomtftives for the 'TientsinJ?ukow Railway, China; overhead electric: transmission system, for Egypt; 'refilling of Blue-Star liners, to cost £200,000; pumps-and oil engines for Valparaiso Drainage Service, Chile; large marine motor engine for Danish owners; .electric ;motors- for railway electrification, Bilbao, Spain; electric traverser.; of 50,.t0n5, for Indian. Rail ways; 175 portable 'locpmotives, £100,000, '-for timber work in Russia, also orders for £60,000 for- tin, p"late -and £100,000' for hematite; petrol tank wagons for Ceylon Railways; i-71 i fcogie: wagons for . Sierra Leone; and a first .order of the value, of £300,000. for railway materials from the China Indemnity Fund of £3,500,000, ■which is to be applied-to. purchase British materials and railway ' equiprrient for China. • ■ . - ' ■ ■ , ■