OUTLOOK FOR CEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19156, 23 October 1925, Page 9

OUTLOOK FOR CEMENT.

THE GOLDEN BAY COMPANY. POSITION AND PROSPECTS. The prospects of the Golden Bay Cement Company are reviewed at a meeting of debenture holders held in Wellington on Tuesday. The chairman, Mr, J. S. McArthiir, said the year's working of the company bad been most satisfactory, the output reaching 22,300 tons without addition to plant beyond ordinary working renewals. During the year ,£4506 had been spent on renewals and repairs out of revenue, making an expenditure for the past three years of £20.213, not a penny of which had been capital expenditure. The company had erected dwellings and a social hall for the employees, and furnished electric light for their homes, arid was endeavouring to make conditions as 'attractive as possible for the workers and their families.

As regards sales, the following figures showed the quantifies of New Zealand cement disposed of for the past four halfyears : March, 1924, 74,647 tons; September, 1924, 81.335 tons; March, 1925, 81.828 tons; September. 1925, 83.820 tons. While these figures showed an increasing demand the total capacity of all the works in tiie Dominion is 40,000 .tons in excess of last year's sales. It would be tejj years hence, judging bv last year's figures, before all the works of the Dominion are working up to full capacity. During the year a reduction in price of 4s 6d per ton was made to consumers. Dr. Knight referred to the fact that other people could make cement cheaper than could the Golden Bay Company. If the company could double its output well and good, but he could not expect the debenture holders to put more money into it. The fact remained that the output for the whole Dominion was still greatly in excess of the normal demand. The only fly in the ointment was foreign competition knocking the price down. Some companies could stand up against that; the Golden Lay Company could not. This year the shareholders might get a dividend, but it was by no means certain that they would. The company had incurred heavy expenditure and assumed large financial responsibilities.