CORKBOARD

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 107, 2 November 1933, Page 4

CORKBOARD

REQUEST FOR DUTY

TARIFF COMMISSION'

Application was made- to, the Tariff Commission yesterday .by Mr. J. H. Drummond, representing/Newail;'s, Ltd., insulation manufacturers; England, for a duty of 30 per cent.'ad; valorem/to be placed on foreign corkboard, v : which, with British corkboard, is. /at present admitted duty free. The- Comptroller of Customs (Dr. G. Craig) presided, and associated with him were Professor B/.E. Murphy and Messrs. J. B. Gow and- G. A/Pascoe: Corkboard for cold-storngo purposes was not manufactured in New Zealand, but was imported in .'very largo'quantities each year, said, Mr. -Drummond. Tho main sources of.supply wore England, Spain, Portugal,'.and* tho United States. Until Scptombor, 1030, NewaiFs had enjoyed a reasonable proportion of the trade, but in the \f6llo wing 'inohth the/Portugese and Spanish manii'faeturers, finding themselves; with tremendous quantities of the raw materials, after an unsuccessful effort to "corner" tho world's corkboard supplies, decided to upset the market by drastia price-cutting. The same procedure was being adopted today, with, the .re-' suit that the market for English.; corkboard in New Zealand was. practically dead. . ■. ■ :, .■.■•-...-, Mr. Drummond asked -the Commission to compare^thfe'existing-conditions in Spain and Portugal with those in Great Britain, .where- costs of production were higher..- Trade union labour only was employed against the advantage of cheap labour. Newall's wcro technical advisers, (arid guvo adyice free'of all cost-relative to tho correct method of erecting cold .stores, etc., while the Spanish and " Portuguese were mainly concerned with the sale of the material: - The British material was considered and-recognised throughout New Zealand, as the most suitable aiid efficient, whereas ■ that of Continental manufacture was often of ipoor quality.. . '■.* " AN EXPORT DUTY. Mr. Drummond said he had reason to believe that'-'the ■ Portuguese .and Spanish Governments: imposed an export duty on ra-w -cork shipped to England. He also'believed that'-although tho Portuguese, .and .„ Spanish cork interests had been unsuccessful in their attempts to "corner the market, they 'had been sufficiently successful."to con»tr'ol;the'priee'.of■ raw- cork in their■ own countries, so that it was a question whether the British manufacturer could really buy his'raw material in-an open, competitive market. In reply to Professor Murphy, Mr. Drummond said that tho difference between the prices of Spanish and British corkboard was not so much a question of. a monopoly, of the raw material aa a matter of labour and other production costs. Mr. Go.w asked if Spanish corkboard was equal to that -made in England. Mr. Drummond: Quality for quality, yes, but generally you do not get quality in the Spanish board. Only the residue from material used' for corks and other articlesl went into the Spanish board, Mr. Drummond ex-" plained. All the- raw cork was used in the British board. Professor. Murphy: The other method would bo economic? —More economic and less efficient. I suppose the refrigerating engineers bavo gone into this matter, too; and yet they are not buying your stuff? — No, but they want to buy. it. If it were equivalent price for price, they would? —I think the New Zealand refrigerating engineer regards our board sufficiently to givo us a little more, but there is too much difference. PREPARED TO PAY MORE. Mr. Drummond said that one of the biggest freezing companies in Npw Zealand, after extensive tests, had been prepared to pay more for tho British board., . | Professor Murphy: The difficulty the Government -would be faced with in imposing any duty that would increase refrigerating costs today is that there would bo a very strong, influential opinion against it. Wo have got to look all round these things.—l appre^ ciate that, but I submit there are bigger issues involved. Mr. Drummond said that the activities of tho other United. Kingdom cork- j board manufacturers were practically negligible. . Professor Murphy: If you got 30 per cent, on these, figures, would not the Spanish boards still cut you out and tho costs to the'industry be higher1? — No, I don't think so. It would cut us out up to a point, but wo have sufficient confidence in our quality, plus tho fact that our agents could be induced to'pare their profits, to. make us believe that we 1, could give quite a good account of' ourselves. Thirty per cent, will do us. We feel that today • wo. are considerably over 30 per cent.to the bad, but we believe that the people can be educated and will buy, if j the margin is not too great. -Professor Murphy: This sort of education may be compulsory but it is not free education, and there* will be an awful howl from tho people involved. Educating people in this forciblo manner is not very popular. •Mr, Drummond said that there was a standard test for the . British board, but the tests of foreign boards were "all over the place.1." He undertook to furnish tho Commission with data regarding tho comparative qualities of British and foreign corkboards.