NAURU PHOSPHATES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 29 July 1922, Page 7

NAURU PHOSPHATES.

"TRYING TO BEDUCE THE PRICE"

The Government was endeavouring by every means to bring down the price of Nauru phosphate, stated the Minister of Agriculture (Hon. W. Nosworthy) iv the House. Mr Nosvrorthy gave members some information regarding the present price. The c.i.f. price at Auckland to-day, he stated, was £3 10s 6d a ton. The total price on trucks at the

works, Auckland, was £5 12s 4d. It cost on the average about IDs a ton to place the phosphate f.o.b. Auckland or Onehunga for retail order. Freight and labour costs had been high when most of the rock was -ordered,, and last season there had not been much of a demand for phosphate or *any other fertiliser, owing to the slump. As time went on orders would probably increase. The Government made only short freight agreements, and on three occasions already since it had commenced operations it had gained freight concessions. The greater the amount of phosphate the country could handle the lower the price would become. In another statement on the same subject, Mr Nosworthy said: "The actual cost of grinding alone is far less than the c.i.f. cost, but apart from this there are a number of other charges to be provided for which aggregate up to a considerable amount. 'ITiese include wharfage, trucking, railage, handling into and out of works, bagging, and provision for interest on cost of raw material awaiting manufacture.**