FORGING AHEAD

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 95, 23 April 1935, Page 12

FORGING AHEAD

BRITISH STEEL INDUSTRY

Improvements which have taken place in the British steel industry were commented on by Mr. R. W. I'erkins, managing director, of Commercial Steels (Ausr tralia), Limited, who passed through Auckland by the Mariposa on Saturday on his way back to Sydney after a business trip to Great Britain and the United States.,1..' \ ■■ .'.. ..' '.' '■' ■ '.'■■ ■■ '.'

' "When I visited England four years ago, I was most disappointed,"' Mr. i'erkins said. "I saw world-famoUs steel plants uiider ii cloud of depression, drifting almost .into a state<of disrepair. On my latest visit I found "a complete transformation. The English Steel Corporation, Limited, which was formed to take over the steel interests of the three largest British firms, has spent close on £2,000,000 in re-, organism? the whole, of the ■ plants and bringing them up to date. ■■■■■' "In spite of the uncertainty of the world trade outlook, the plants are.alive with work, and it was as good as a tonic to gain a first-hand impression of the results of British' confidence. . , "The 'American situation is most involved and the problems of the steel industry in the United States are more serious .' than those in Great Britain. One sees the spectacle of a highly industrialised' nation with much of its plant lying idle and with millions of unemployed. I spelt some weeks in the plants of leading American steel manufacturers and it seems that their emergence from depressed conditions will not take place in the immediate future."