COPPER PRICES

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 May 1927, Page 6

COPPER PRICES

LOWER THAN PRE-WAR. (Australian & N.Z. Cable Assn.) SYDNEY, May 13. Giving evidence before the Commonwealth 'Arbitration Court, Mr Murray ((general manager of the Mt. Lyell Mining Coy.) said that since 1921 the copper industry in Australia had been in a perilous condition, owing to the serious fall in the price of copper on the world’s markets. „For the past six years the prices had actually been lower than the pre-war prices in spite of the fact that the cost of production had materially advanced, owing to the increased cost of materials, higher wages, and shorter hours. He admitted that the Mount Lyell copper was being sold in Australia, and commanded a price higher than the world’s market price. His Company would have been unable to continue operations otherwise. The cost of production to-day was actually higher than the present market price. The direct effect of these adverse conditions was that all the principal copper producers in Australia, excepting Mount Lyell, had been obliged to go out of business. The Mount Lyell Coy. was able to survive only by the expenditure of large sums in introducing the most up-to-date machinery, and efficient mining and treatment methods. The Companies could not carry the burden of any further increase in wages, or any decrease in the working hours, neither of which he said, was justified or called for.