WHALE OIL SUPPLIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20978, 15 September 1931, Page 5

WHALE OIL SUPPLIES.

EFFECT ON TALLOW PRICES. STATEMENT -BY MINISTER. In a communication to the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. A. J. Murdoch, the Auckland Chamber of Commerce has sought information on behalf of a member on the question of the influence of whale oil on the price of tallow. The possibility of further royalties from whalers operating in the Ross Sea dependency was also mentioned by the chamber. • The Minister, in reply, said that he understood that the whaling industry had become concerned about prices for the oil produced Steps were being taken to prevent over-production and to re-estab-lish prices. This should be of advantage to the tallow industry in New Zealand, although only a proportion of the whale oil produced was in competition with tallow. Whaling operations had for some time past been restricted to international waters, over which New Zealand, of course, had no control, continued the Minister. Even when operations were conducted partly in the territorial waters of the Boss Sea Dependency the quantity of oil produced from there was a small part of the world supply. That would no doubt continue to be the case should whaling activities be resumed there. Increasing the royalty payable in respect of the oil secured from the Dependency would, accordingly, bring no relief to New Zealand producers of tallow as the market price of oil would be regulated by the larger supplies taken in international waters.