RECORD CARGO

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

RECORD CARGO

AUSTRALIAN GOODS

IRON AND STEEL A record cargo from Australia of 3100 tons was carried on the Monowai, which arrived at Auckland from Sydney last week, states the "New Zealand Herald." Later in the day the Gabriella reached Auckland from Sydney and Newcastle with 700 tons of iron and steel goods, making 3800 tons of Australian goods and reshipments to reach New Zealand on one day. \ The Monowai carried a particularly wide range of goods, including heavy consignments of glassware and pollard. The cargo also included railway sleepers, canned fruit, toilet ware, drapery and hosiery, drugs and fancy goods, and many miscellaneous items. Transhipped goods, such as tea, cocoa beans, and drapery, formed part of the cargo. The Gabriella's cargo was almost entirely iron and steel goods, the output of the heavy industries at Broken Hill. The vessel will discharge at Auckland and the south.

These heavy shipments reflect improvement in the importing trade, but it is claimed also that they afford practical illustration of the diversion of trade from the United Kingdom to Australia. Australian goods enter New Zealand under generally the same tariff as British goods, but with its exchange rate depreciated^ on sterling the Commonwealth has a decided advantage. Another favourable factor is the shorter distance.

Possibly Australian penetration has been most marked in the iron and steel trade. In 1931 imports of bars, bolts, and rods from the United Kingdom were valued at eight times more than the imports, from Australia. Last year Australian imports were worth 50 per cent, more than the British. It is stated that contractors find it cheaper to import from Australia, from which country their needs can be supplied almost on a week-to-week basis, thus obviating the cost of storage.