HOME COAL SUPPLIES.

Gisborne Times, Volume LV, Issue 6153, 10 August 1921, Page 5

HOME COAL SUPPLIES.

OUTPUT AHEAD OF DEMAND. HEAVY SLUMP FEARED. LONDON, Aug. 8. The Daily Chronicle’s Cardiff correspondent states that the. coal output has outstripped the demand. A heavy slump in values, it is feared, will ‘result in the closure of many pits. Last week the price of steam coal fell to two pounds a ton. A fall to thirty shillings is impending. Fifty thousand men have already been thrown idle as the result of the coal strike and it is feared many thousands will join them, but it is hoped the reduction in price will enable Welsh exporters to recover the South American market.—A. and N.Z.C.A. LIFTING OF AUSTRALIAN EMBARGO. ' NEW ZEALAND WitLL GET COAL. WELLINGTON. Aug. 9. It is the opinion of a leading merchant that lifting the embargo means that New Zealand will be relieved of anxiety so far as the coal supply is concerned. New Zealand, lie said, would be in a position _to command a full supply of high quality coal, and there were already indications of a drop in prices Manufacturers, gas companies and municipal bodies carrying on trading concerns, such as tramways, should benefit greatly, as no longer would they need to buy “outside” cargoes at enhanced prices, or prices which they had been prepared 'to pay merely because they feared a- shortage. “ Lifting the embargo will probably have another effect, namely the 'winding up of the Coal Control Department. —P.A.