WEST COAST SAWMILLS

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 August 1939, Page 12

WEST COAST SAWMILLS

TO CLOSE ON FRIDAYS

[per press association.]

CHRISTCHURCH, August 23. Because of the falling-off in the demand for ordinary lines of rimu timber, all rimu mills on the West Coast will be close’d on Fridays until further notice. This decision was made by the West Coast Sawmillers’ Association, after a conference with Christchurch timber merchants to-day.

“The falling-off in the demand is due to the unbalanced utilisation of the product of the log, the current demand not absorbing the dressing ‘A’ non-heart quality, which is a little less than half of the production,” said Mr J. W. Caldwell, the president of the association in a statement. “This in turn, is considered by the association to be largely due to the action of the Government departments in refusing to allow the use of air-dried nonheart weatherboards in Canterbury. Timber so dried has been satisfactorily used for the last 70 years. The sawmillers express the view that the exclusive demand for the kiln-drying of non-heart rimu is not justified by experience, and is based on theories which have yet to be proved scientifically.”

Between 35 and 40 mills would be affected by the slowing down of production and about 1000 men would lose one day’s work each, week, said Mr Caldwell. It was well within the power of the Government to modify their requirements to meet an urgent situation. The question of stocks did not loom large except with two or three mills, but the merchants were heavily stocked. The mills ■will observe the first idle day on Friday of this •week.