FACTORY TO CLOSE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22847, 30 September 1937, Page 10

FACTORY TO CLOSE

fears materialise AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION GOODS DUMPED AT BELOW COST [BY TELEGRAPH —ritESS ASSOCIATION] DUXEDIX. Wednesday That the frequently expressed apprehensions of manufacturers with respect to the dumping of Australian goods in New Zealand to the detriment of local industry, in circumstances which comprise unfair competition, have not been without foundation, would appear to bo borne out by the plight of a well-known Dunedin manufacturing establishment, which at the. present time is faced with the necessity of closing its doors. This extreme step has been forced upon the company through its inability to compete with consistently heavy importations from Australia, "which aro landed in the Dominion at a figure which is not only below the New Zealand cost, hut considerably lower than the fixed price which o|>erates for such goods in the Commonwealth. " The manager of the company in question declared that his firm, which was a comparatively small organisation specialising in one particular line 0.. woollen * goods, had been operating efficiently and with a reasonable margin of profit for the past 10 years. The product of the company was now well known throughout New Zealand and, I he ventured to say, highly thought of.' At the moment, however, he could i see no possibility of carrying on satisfactorily, and it was his intention I s i m ply to convert what raw material he had on hand into the manufactured article, since the. finished product was more readily saleable than the mw wool, and to close the doors of his factory. His staff of 16 operatives had been whittled down week by week until now he had just enough work to keep four going.