OVERSEA TRADE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21346, 22 November 1932, Page 10

OVERSEA TRADE

•RETURN FOR OCTOBER

EXPORT LEVEL HIGHER

POSITION FOR TEN MONTHS

BALANCE OF £12,000,000

Exports for tho month of October exceeded in value those for October last year by nearly £700,000. according to the returns of overseas trado for the month, a summary of which was issued by the Customs Department in Wellington yesterday. Imports were lower by approximately £14,700. In consequence the month yielded an excess of exports amounting to £553,646, compared with an excess of imports valued at £126,781 last year. The value of exports compares not unfavourably with that for October in such years as 1928 and 1929. The imports compared with those for the same month in tho two years already mentioned, £1,347,500, against £3,674,000 and £4,410,000 respectively, are eloquent of tho drastic curtailment suffered by inward business with overseas countries.

October also reversed the movement shown in September, when there was a fall in exports compared with the same month of 1931, and a slight increase in Imports. The result then was an excess of Imports valued at £642,700, which is more normal at this period of the year than the excess of exports October has shown. It is, in fact, necessary to go back to 3919 to find an earlier instance of the exports for October being greater in value than the imports. Comparisons lor the Month ,t . Following are the returns for October fa recent years, showing an excess of imports until this year:— (Exports Imports Excess 192S ' . £-2,776,704 £3,G73,758 £897,054 1929 2,479,310 4,109,812 1,930,502 1930 ». 2,445,5G5 3,691,583 1,246,018 1931 /. t 1,735,450 1,862,231 126.751 1932 . 2,401,178 1,847,532 "553,640 "Excess of exports.

Returns I for the first ten months of this year show an increase in the value of exports by just over £2.000.000 compared with the corresponding period in IP3I. Thus there has been a gain of ground after the drastic fall, amounting to more than £10,500,000, the exports for that period of' last year exhibited in comparison with the valuation for a like portion of 1930.

Imports have declined by approximately the /same amount, and are now only a little over half the value of imports for tho first ten months of 1930. Following is a siummary of the returns fpr the last ten years.:— Ten months. / Exports Imports Excess 1923 .. £39.720.215 £35,975,309 £3,744.906 1924 . . 43,984,306 40,220,427 3,763,879 1925 s . 46,149.945 42,980,176 3,169,769 1926 . „ 39,020,207 41.741,123 *2,270,921 1927 .. / 40,259.995 37,272,274 2.957.721 1928 .. 48,445,630 36,715,283 11,730,347 1929 », 48,134,059 40,764,226 7,369,863 1930 89.576,645 37,040,126 2,536,519 1931 29,004,574 20,960,260 8,044.314 1932 v * / 31.087.830 18,913,231 12,174,599 "Excess of imports.

Criie apparent favourable balance, £4,130,000 larger than last year and neiirly £9,700.000 greater than in 1930, hau not been exceeded in the decade. Curtailment of Imports

The continued curtailment of imports is well illustrated by the returns for the last four months, corresponding -with the new production year. This year is the only instance in a decade in which the exports have exceeded imports in value for this period, and the excess amounts to £1,162,000. The returns compare with those for previous years as follows: July-

October Exports Imports Excess 1923 .. £8,637,836 £15,078,842 £6,441,006 19!!4 .. 10,423,312 17,576,024 7,152,732 1925 .. 7,751,686 17,964,891 10,213,205 1926 .. 9.547,373 17,024,548 7,477,175 19!!7 i. 9.667.653 15.071.570 5,403,917 IK® 10,730,358 15,799,583 5.009,225 l£!9 ■£. 10,362,548 18,226,783 7.8C4.235 19<I0 9.795,954 14,472,583 4,676.629 1931 . * 7,219,598 8,044,955 825,357 1932 .. 8.909,309 7.747,408 *1,161,901 'Excess of exports.

the official figures are expressed in Now Zealand currency for exports and in sterling for imports, direct comparisons do not indicate the true position. An adjustment shows the ten months of the current year to have produced a surplus of approximately £9,739,000 in London.