THE PAPER MARKET.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVIII, Issue 18304, 14 January 1920, Page 6

THE PAPER MARKET.

A WORLD-WIDE SHORTAGE.

NO PROSPECT OF RELIEF. One of the most important distributing firms of Australasia received by the latest mail advices' from its London and New York houses that show how very serious the position in regard to newsprint and other papers has now become. The London house, in refusing to quote definite prices, gives the following explanation of the situation:—

" With regard to prices, it may be regarded as absolutely certain that the present high figures will be maintained, for some considerable time to come; in fact, the general tendency is for them to harden, and further advances on most qualities are by no means improbr able in the near future At the present time the demand is so large and the cost of labour and raw material so uncertain that mills will not quote for advanced deliveries. So far as delivery is concerned, practically all mills have enough orders on their boks to keep them going for several months, consequently it will be difficult to obtain anything like prompt delivery of ordors. Tho situation lias been brought about by the accumulated effect of a variety of reasons. In the first instance, in common with practically every other manufacturing commodity, there is at prosent a world-wide shortage of paper of all kinds; in fact, many mills hav« closed their books and are refusing to accept more orders until they are in a position to fill them, within a reasonable period. " When the embargo was removed on imported paper it was expected that conditions would improve, but in actual effect the reverse is the case.

' The great rush of German paper which was expected has not materialised, and according to report there is very little prospect of Germany exporting much paper for another twelve months.

" The delays in shipping, heavy freight charges and labour unrest in the United States have stopped the import of practically all paper from that country into Great Britain. "Regarding labour, in addition to conceding to various demands for increased wages, the mill-owners have been compelled-to revise their working arrangements, and in place of two twelve-hour * shifts, three eight-hour shifts have been substituted. The result of this has been that the number of skilled paper-makers which, owing to the war ? had already been are now divided into three shifts instead of two, and the consequence is that tho output is impaired, and tho mills cannot get additional" workmen." " Coal strikes, ironfounders' strikes, railway strikes, all assisted in preventing the maximum output being obtained."

The information from the American bouse goes to show that the position in the United States and Canada is. if anything, even worse than in Great Britain.

"The papor situation," it says, "is anything but encouraging in this country and in Canada, and more particularly is this felt in _ newsprint. It has reached a price which is unprecedented in the history of the papor trade, and is so scarce that even at the present high price it is likely to increase further within a very short time. Many of the big newspapers are already using ground wood news, and glad to get it, out there is only a limited quantity made in Canada and the United States, and the Press will shortly be up against actual want

" The big suppliers of newsprint who are under contract to supply to publishers aro unable to do so, in consequence of the shortage of labour and raw materials.

The opinion of the newsprint experts is that the situation will be much more serious than it is at present, and that is bad enough. "Strikes are in evidence everywhere. In New York we are up against one of the most serious strikes that our citizens have ever been called upon to face. Tho Government figures just out give the total number of strikes in the United States since January, 1919, as "3015, and at time of writing there are 515 industrial strikes in actual operation throughout this country."

POSSIBLE SOURCE OF SUPPLY. NEW ZEALAND TIMBER. (Per Press Association.) NELSON, January 13. On the suggestion of the Director (Professor Easterfield), the Cawthron Institute trustees have decided to send samples of New Zealand forest materials to experts in Canada for reports as to their suitability for paper manufacture.