TRADE WITH SCOTLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 76, 31 March 1934, Page 14

TRADE WITH SCOTLAND

GLASGOW EFFORTS

ONE-WAY CARGOES

"Evening Post," March 31. Consideration is being given" by the Government "of the State' of Victoria.; to proposals to. increase direct trade with Scotland. Mr.. R: Linton, Agent-General for Victoria, has reported that his Investigations have shown that there is a good market in Scotland aud Victorian butter, eggs; meat, canned and dried fruits, flour, and. timber. Leading, firms in' Glasgow interested in the importation of'shell eggs state that .they desire to establish contact with,' Australian■. producers with a view to obtaining direct shipments of products. These firms would prefer to receive eggs from Australia on a consignment basis, but-they are willing to make offers for purchase outright. Referring to fruit, Mr. Linton' stated that a Glasgow firm importing 600,000 packages of apples annually had complained that Australia had sent varieties of apples xinknown in Scotjaud. Types most suitable are Jonathans,- Cleopatras, Delicious, Stunners;. and Granny Smiths. Canned fruits were.also in good demand, but California was a strong competitor. ..;.--.. . ...... There was a splendid market for Australian meat in Scotland, but so far only spasmodic supplies had been sent. What was wanted was regular and direct shipments _of lamb, beef, and • boneless beef. Financial aid up t0.75 per cent: on shipments had been offered. Eggs were also m good, demand. ■•"..' 'She Victorian Government has been nsced Jto call a conference of exporting interests to discuss improved direct trade relations with Scotland. Mr. Harold 31. Ford (who has''already visited. New Zealand), in the course of his annual report on the activities of the Trade Development Department of the .Clyde Navigation Trust, stated that within the past year further progress had been made with regard to' developing trade between Crlasgow and Empire countries. A further record had been' established in the number of vessels trading from Australia to the port, and also in.the tonnage' 6fgoods imported. ■ The number, of vessels totalled 54,-with a iiet register in arid out tonnage totalling 498,386 tons—an increase of 15 vessels bver.'last year.: ■ CARGOES INCREASING. The tonnage of. goods i imported into Wasgow was 129,653 tons—an increase of 10,638 tons, while the revenue derived from dues on ships and goods increased by £4453 to £25,166. Additional refrigerated vessel facilities had been provided to cope with the steadily growing trade which was being- built up between merchants on the Glasgow.' markets and Australian producers, in perishable products. The pronsion of that additional space permitted the opening up of the Australian eg" trade with Glasgow. About 1000 tons of eggs had been imported. ,■ ■ With regard to New Zealand, the past jrear.had witnessed the highest" increase ia'trade from that country yet experienced. Dnring the year 29 vessels traded ■into the port—an increase of:four over 1932. The tonnage of goods imported totalled 38,786 tons, compared with 26.1-20 tons the previous year. The increase of ..12,660 tons alone represented over 75 per : cent, of the total imports from New Zealand in 1927, The total revenue on ships and goods amounted to £13,678—an increase'of £2212. .-'••■ ; HIGH.TARIFF OBSTACLES. •After reference to direct fruit trade betNveen South Africa and Glasgow and the possibility of shipments of live cattle from Rhodesia, Mr. Ford said: "Owing to the .eutical "times and depressed conditions in most parts of the world, especially in Australia and New Zealand, very little can be achieved towards the promotion of trade in' Scottish manufactures, particularly with the. operation of high tariffs -which had virtually excluded many Scottish manufactures for .-which I had previously arranged agencies. .-With the gradual revision of those; tariffs, following upon the Ottawa Conference, it was hoped that there would be_ a possibility of reviving the agencies 5 had.-already.previously arranged and also lor opening up hew ones." ; : THE SHIPPING PROBLEM. ■ Mr. James Morton, convener of the Committee on Traffic and Storage, said he ivas sure the Clyde trustees would agree that Mr. Ford had presented- a very satisfactory_ report, whether considered from the point of view of a. record of past accomplishment or of promise as to what the future contained. " . , Mr.-Morton: advocated overseas representation of the Port, of Glasgow, as London, Manchester, and: Southampton had already. It -was desirable that the Clyde Trust should'take such'means "-.as- it had-'in its power to make ' sure.that'it got-,, its share of any traffic . that was going. There was always a. difficulty in breaking, new ground. There were established .channels of trade and established customs ,of doing business. -The commodities could, not. come 'unless' ships were ■willing, to !c6me, ; and, ships .were • not .willing to'come, unless there were-sufficient commodities to make-it worth' their while., Consequently a good deal of! diplomacy and tact had to be used to start a new orientatjbn of .trade. . :."." ' . There was no doubt that if • they could export in the ships which'brought Australian, and New Zealand p'rodiice to the .niydeV'the position'regarding shipping and freight -would be very much improved. ! MARKETS NOT SATURATED. • Miv-Morton continued that' He- would like to' say to their' customers' in -Australia and' New Zealand tliat the markets in Glasgow were-not-saturated, and there was, so-far as one could see, no limit at present in sight as to the possible development and expansion. . Referring to the attempt which -was being made to increase the distributJbri area from the Port of Glasgow/, in-.

Morton said they had not yet had time to see how that would work out, but they had .been endeavouring to do what was possible for the purpose of helping the export trade. They had found it very difficult to'offer- sufficient inducement to the Dominions to support their esport trade, but-a very strong effort had been made recently by Mr. Ford, who anticipated satisfactory results in that direction in j the course of time. j The report was unanimously ac^opted. j SCOTLAND AS AGAINST, THE SOUTH. Sir Steven S. Bilsland,, Bart, president of the Glasgow Chamber of. Commerce, is | r talcing a. leading part Viii the move'to draw the'attention of "Empire buyers to the claims of' Glasgow and the West of Scotland; and" ;in!." an interview with a representative of the "Scotsman," he criticised the present one-sidedness of Scottish trade with the Empire, and described his efforts to secure more reciprocity. "The desirability! of opening up. trade with '.-the ■ -Dominions . on. -.the: Glasgow markets as against the concentration on London and the south, has long been realised in some quarters," said Sir Steven. "The question of reciprocity is now becoming a necessity, lor, with the development which has taken place with some of our Dominions in the last three- years, there has arisen the growing /importance of,getting cargo outwards, as well as inwards, for the vessels plying to our port. I have been much impressed with the fact that- it is up to us to do everything possible, to take advantage of the Ottawa Agreements, and I have felt that there is a wide field of useful co-operation in this, as in. other, work between the Chamber of Commerce and the Clyde Trust —a cooperation such as exists between the Clyde Trust and Glasgow Corporation with their markets. "Along with Mr. Harold M. Ford, commercial manager of the Clyde Trust, I spent some days recently in consultation with the Dominions' representatives in London regarding the development of our export trade to the Dominions. During the last few.years there has been a big development of import trade from the Dominions to the Clyde. This has been due to' the action of the Clyde Trust in drawing attention to the facilities of our port and markets for marketing and distribution, and to opening up new business channels between the producers and Glasgow merchants; ,'.f'INYITATIQN FROM SCOTLAND. :.,Sir said arrangements were being made for.Glasgpw to meet the representatives of Indiaj Canada, New. South' Wales, Western. Australia, and the colonies. "We want them to visit Glasgow, whether they'come in connection with actual orders or contracts or to seek representation with British manufacturers. I waa told an. London, for . example, that every year 30,000' visitors come to this country from Australia and New Zealand alone, and there are certainly strong ties of attachment throughout the Empire to Scotland. One of., the Dominion representatives described this feeling to me as 'a glorious sentiment towards Scotland.' "At present, the great bulk of the visitors from the Empire transact ,-ijd discuss their business with London buying houses; with the result: that the great industrial area of the West of Scotland has little chance either of placing before them its products or receiving the opportunity of co-operating in their business. This great, army of visitors provide a magnificent ; opportunity to us which we must explore and utilise." SHIPS OUT IN BALLAST. Supplementing Sir Steven's remarks, Mr. Ford said that within the last three years, the Clyde had.trebled its inward trade in shipping from Australia and doubled this New Zealand inward trade. They were now on the verge of an important development -with South Africa, while, in addition, Canadian tvade was not being overlooked. It could therefore be said that definite progress was now being made between the Empire generally and Scotland. Mr. Ford emphasised that shipping must have freights outwards as well as,inwards. Last year, with a further increase of 15 vessels from Australia, 78 per cent, sailed out. of the port in ballast. Of the New Zealand vessels, 92 per cent, left the Clyde without cargo. When one considered' the risk shipowners ran in placing their big refrigerated liners on journeys to Glasgow with little, and, in many cases, no prospect 6f return cargoes, it would be realised now important it was that every effort should, be, made towards reviving and creating export trade from Scotland to the Empire 'countries. Mr. Ford also pointed out that as a direct result- of the- activities of his Department no fewer than 53 new business connections had been established between the producers of the Dominions and tho merchants and traders on the Glasgowmarkets.1 ... ■ ■ =