DWINDLING TRADE

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 December 1946, Page 6

DWINDLING TRADE

TIMBER EXPORTS FROM GREYMOUTH INTERESTING STATISTICS The fact that for the past two years no timber has been shipped from Greymcuth for Australia, whereas a decade ago the annual figure was in the vicinity » of 20,000,000 feet, was among the interesting details submitted to this morning’s protest meeting at Greymouth. At the request of the Westland District Progress League the acting secretary of the Greymouth Harbour Board, Mr. R. Steel, produced a comprehensive return of timber ship-ments-from the port over the past 20 years, enabling year-by-*year comparisons to be made. The schedule of timber shipments, both coastal and overseas, from the port from 1926 to 1946, was as follows: —

Total for all destinations, 580,554,298 sup. feet. Average for' 20 years (1926-1945): Slightly over 28,500,000 a year. 1943 to 1945 (inclusive), average 16,000,000 a year. From 1926 to 1936 there were two shipments a month to Australia, with 17 months excepted in the 11 years. In some months, however, there were three shipments and the “lean ’ period did not begin until 1941. Even , then there were nine loadings at Greymouth for Australia. In 1942 there were only two, both in the month of September. There were no shipments of two vessels or over for any one month during 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. The record monthly shipment during the period from 1926 was in September, 1932, when five vessels shipped 3,862,485 sup. feet. The largest number of. shipments in any one month during the period was in July, 1935, when seven vessels shipped 3,677.943 sup. feet. Details of these shipments are as follows:— September, 1932. — Gabriella, 481,849 sup. feet; Karepo, 862,489; Kalingo, 936,786; Kanna, 663,271; Kiwitea, 918,090; total, 3,862,485 sup. feet.

July, 1935.—Kaimiro, 424,487 sup. feet; Abel Tasman, 326,657; Kiwitea, 624,649; Mernoo, 672,011; Ngakuta, 651,934; Gabriella. 530,085; Kalingo, 458,120; total, 3,677,943 sup. feet. The last shipment of timber to Australia was in June, 1944, when the Omana took 632,052 sup. feet to Melbourne. Vessels at present trading to Greymouth and which have taken timber to Australia from 1926 onwards are as follows:—Kartigi, Karepo, Kaimiro, Omana, Storm, Kiwitea, Poolta, Gabriella, and Kauri, and the auxiliary schooners Piri and Huia.

Coastal. Sup. ft. Overseas. Sup. ft. - 1926 15,918,458 22,841,421 1927 9,441,836 18,603,478 1928 13,201,471 21,852,139 1929 16.029,186 24,942,664 1930 9,886,210 19,539,969 1931 6.190,551 9,537,020 1932 953,303 22,652,980 1933 2,564,487 19,679,171 1934 3,373,225 26.792,299 1935 6,853,620 28.953,897 1936 14,059,596 16.657,315 1937 19,467,393 9.686,048 1938 20,740.934 8,912,313 1939 22,73’9,116 9,502,260 1940 22,088.290 12,407,231 1941 23,622,290 14.100,754 1942 ' • • 24,910.700 5,577,067 1943 19,091.697 2.735,963 1944 12,144,454 . 632,052 1945 13,633,129 Nil 1946, to November 11 8,038,311 Nil Totals .. 284,948,257 295,606,041