PORT OF LIVERPOOL

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11422, 19 January 1923, Page 8

PORT OF LIVERPOOL

DIRECT MARKETING FROM NEW ZEALAND FOR POPULATION OF 20 MILLIONS. ADDRESS BY COLONEL HAWKINS. Colonel T. H. Hawkins, representing the Port of Liverpool Trust, who is at present visiting New Zealand, gave a short address yesterday afternoon at the meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. . . His mission to the Dominion, he stated, was to try and direct New Zealand trade to a greater extent to the great Port of Liverpool, which had behind it an enormous industrial population engaged in such varied industries as cotton, wool, and steel, chemicals, dyeing, shipbuilding, etc. Dividing the map of Great Britain by a straight lino equidistant from Liverpool and London, they would find on the- Liverpool side of that line, and therefore best served from the Port of Liverpool, a population of 20,296,000; and the port authorities considered that, in view of that fact, the trade of New Zealand with their port was quite insufficient For example, the Liverpool port dues on the trade from New Zealand were only about one-sixth of those on the trade from the west coast of America. Only two million tons of New Zealand butter went to Liverpool, and only 3520 tons of cheese, nnrt 92 000 tons of meat.

ADVANTAGES TO NEW ZEALAND. Referring to the advantages offered by the port for New Zealand trade, he stated that Liverpool had the finest system of docks in the world, with 37 miles of quays; and they bad every facility for dealing with every type of ship and cargo. The cold-storage capacity of the port represented about 9,000,000 cubic feet; and they had the most up-to-date cold store in the world, where the minimum of handling of the produce took place.* In Australia he had been told that the complaints as to the handling of produce at Liverpool were less than, from jbther ports. BEST GROUP OF RAILWAYS. Further, the port was served by the best group of railways in England, and by canal services right across country to Hull and down tp the Midlands, besides steamer services running daily to Scotland and Ireland, the latter ot which drew most of her overseas supplies from Liverpool. There was undoubtedly in the North of England a flowing demand for New Zealand prouce, but they were getting very little of it direct to Liverpool, as he had shown. Most of it had to he railed at great expense from London. On lamb, for instance, the railage charge up to Liverpool was fd per lb, and by shipping direct to the port that could be saved. He, therefore, asked Neiv Zealand producers to consider Liverpool as a direct market for their ever-in-creasing exports. (Applause.) DIRECT STEAMER TRAFFIC.

Mr J. T. Martin said that the difficulty was that we had not yet built up direct steamer traffic with Liverpool. This should bo the first step, and to build it up there must he cooperation between the merchants of Liverpool and our New Zealand suppliers. (Applause.) He had visited the Port of Liverpool, and it was all that Colonel Hawkins had said it .was. It was stated to he the ’second biggest port in Great Britain; and anything we could do to increase our trade with Liverpool should be done. He moved a hearty, vote of thanks to Colonel Hawkins.

The president (Mr W. F. Cuthbertsqn) seconded, and the vote wap carried by acclamation.