SHORTAGE OF CEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17497, 15 June 1920, Page 6

SHORTAGE OF CEMENT.

MATTER OF. DISTRIBUTION.

RESTRICTION ;OF ~ OUTPUT.,

DUE TO LACK .OF COAL.

Complaints regarding the distribution 'of cement, and the suggestion by farmers! that the country' districts were not receiving"- equitable treatment in respect to the allocations of- the material by the Board of Trade were yesterday discussed by officials of Wilsons Portland, Cement Company. It "was stated that the distribution of the material was being .carried out according to a scheme adopted by the Board of Trade. Tho order in which' cement is to be supplied is divided' into six heads, as. follow :r-(l) Waterworks, sanitary works hospitals, urgent government requirements for public works and railways; (2) workora' dwellings and dwellings in progress and to bo-started, not exceeding £2000 in cost.. Under this head may be included reasonable supplies to tile, block and pipe factories; (3) freezing works and stores for produce, dairy factories, bridges and culvert* when for purpose of opening up settlements: (4) public works, railways, municipal and other local bodies for works absolutely - necessary for tho community in general; (5) completion of jobs at present under way, contingent upon the works enumerated in the preceding four paragraphs having preference; (6) Work in general including houses over £2000.

No serious difficulty is. found in respect to distributing the output of cement substantially according to the schedule. The actual difficulty that confronts not only the farmers but the whole community is that there is a- lamentable shortage in production. This shortage is directly attributable to the scarcity of coal The present output from the company's works is just about one-third of the normal output! Only one kiln is running at Portland, giving an output of 100-tons a day. The capacity of the Portland works is 200 tons a day. The Warkwortb kilns are closed down and have been out oi commission through lack of coal for about seven months. So great is the difficulty in, obtaining coal, it was stated, that the Portlani works were recently on the verge of being compelled to completely ceaseoperations. Fortunately the company was able to eeccre an odd shipment of coal from the Wesi Coast tto keep the kiln working. - "It takes about 100 toils of coal daiiy to' run the Portland works at full capacity," said an official of the company, " and the stock of coal at the -works now is 300 tons. These figures convey some fdcu of how Utile margin there is to work wjon." He added that it was only poseiblo to keep the one, kiln working* by using \ high-priced Newcastle coal. This increased the. cost of production, and made it impossible to supply cement at a cheap rate. In the past ooal for the Port'ino works was obtained from the Whangarei district, "bat thy supply was now greatly restricted. The opinion was expressed that no material increase in supplies could bo expected during the "winter, owing to the increased demand for coal for domestic, and other purposes in the winter months. It was emphatically stated that if an ample supply of coal were obtainable there wooM be no shortage of cement after a period of three months to enable standing orders to be fulfilled. To achieve this desirable end it waa suggested tfiait the Government should take action to ensure an adequate supply of coal. It was also mentioned that if the farmers successfully directed their efforts in the 6ame direction the grounds for complaint regarding' tho distribution of cement would soon be eliminated..