BRITISH TRADE

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 13 June 1928, Page 11

BRITISH TRADE

AN IMPROVED POSITION WORLD’S SHIPBUILDING A PARLIAMENTARY SURVEY (British Official Wireless.) Received 1.30 p.m. to-day. RUGBY, June 12. In the House of Commons Sir P. Cunliffe 'Lister, president of the Board of Trade, nfade an interesting survey of British trade. It was satisfactory to see, he said, that throughout one group of industries, after another, the considerable progress which there was in the volume of production. In 1927 and the first quarter of 1925, compared with 1924 and comparing the five months of 1928 with the .corresponding months of 1924, there were over half a million more people who had found work. With regard to coal, the actual production in 1925 was 243,000,000 tons and in 1927, 251,000,000. There was a considerable amount of evidence to show that we had been competing successfully with German and Polish 'coal in foreign markets. With regard to steel there had been a considerable increase as 'compared with 1924. In shipbuilding there had been a 'falling off in orders, following the considerable earlier improvement, which, he thought, was reflected in the lower shipping freights which prevailed to-day, but one 'thing which was satisfactory was that we were 'certainly to-day holding our own in building whatever tonnage was required as against the rest of the world. Vessels under 'construction in ’this country on December 21 last represented a tonnage of 1,580,000, or 50.7 per 'cent, of the world’s building. The last report he had from the motor trade whs that in 1927 the output was being maintained and an increase was expected in production of commercial cars and there was some improvement in export, particularly to South America. In electrical engineering there was a distinctly brighter outlook; in fact there was keen competition. If they took the five great exporting ’countries of the world they found that 'Great Britain was -taking the lead in exports of electrical machines. That was a very rem’arkable thing in a trade where before the war we were certainly not at the head.