SHIPPING BOOMERANG

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 December 1934, Page 12

SHIPPING BOOMERANG

VESSELS RETURN AS SCRAP. LONDON, November 4. British shipbreakers are complaining of the increasing imports of foreign scrap steel to this country, and Jhe consequent loss of employment

The whole position has been placed before Mr Godfrey Nicholson, M.P. for the Morpeth Division, by Messrs Hughes, Bolckow, and Co., of Blyth, who every year purchase a’ ■ largo amount of obsolete shipping for conversion into scrap. This scrapI steel is then sold to English steelmakers for re-smelting. Until last year there was little opposition from abroad, but the first eight months of this year have shown a rapid increase in this form of import. More important still, most of this foreign scrap is provided by obsolete English shipping sold to foreign owners. During 1933 the total of such imports amounted to about 105,000 tons, i or a monthly average of 8.700 tons. According to the Board of Trade figures for 1934, the first eight months! of this year saw a total of 255.001 H

,ons of imported scrap, or a monthly average of 8,700 tons. According to the Board of Trade figures for 1934, the first eight months of this year saw a total of 255,000 tons of imported scrap, or a monthly average of nearly 32,000 tons. There is no desire to interfere with the liberty of scran-steel merchants to purchase their goods anywhere if the English supply is inadequate, but it is felt that the home shipbreaking yards can cope with all but abnormal demands.