SEARCH FOR IRON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22816, 27 February 1936, Page 14

SEARCH FOR IRON

JAPAN'S PRESSING 'NEED SHIPMENTS FROM PORT CHALMERS To assist in meeting Japan's unceasing demand for scrap iron 800 tons of old iron is being stowed into the holds of the Kawatiri, which has recently been sold by the Union Company to Japanese interests. The vessel is at present lying at Fort Chalmers, where strings of trucks, loaded with a miscellaneous assortment of scrap iron, are being shunted alongside and their contents swung on board. She will sail on Saturday for Lyttelton, where a further consignment will be shipped, and will leave New Zealand with a cargo of from 1600 to 1800 tons of iron. In order to meet the demands of her manufacturing industries Japan is annually importing about 2,000,000 tons of scrap iron, gathered from every corner of the globe, though America, which exports about half this quantity, is easily the principal source of supply. Japan, herself, is poor in iron ore supplies, but some deposits are worked in Korea and Manchukuo. It its reported that the Japanese have been disappointed with the iron ore deposits of the latter country, which, they now find, are not so extensive as was originally believed. They will, therefore, have no alternative but to continue their world-wide search for scrap iron, unless they manage to extend their sphere of influence to the Shako region of North China, where there are extensive deposits of ore. The shipment which the Kawatiri is now loading at Port Chalmers comprises rails, boilers, ship plate, heavy motor scrap, horseshoes and all the odds and ends which can be gathered about the country. A further shipment will be taken by the Chifuku Maru, which is due at Dunedin to-day and will complete her cargo at Timaru and Wellington. Before leaving New Zealand the Kawatiri will load 1000 tons of bunker coal at Westport, and will sail on March 7 for Australia, where at Pout Headland, she will pick up the Minderoo and take her iu tow, en route for Osaka. A heavy towing rope has been brought from Japan for that purpose, and a six-inch towing line is also being taken from Dunedin. , , ; The Kawatiri was taken over bv her new owners last Saturday, and is now flying the Japanese flag. The Japanese crew includes a number of experts in jiujitsu and the Japanese game of judo, a strenuous form of wrestling. Most of their food, was brought with them and consists largely of .rice, fish and a vegetable similar to the radish. The chief steward was chief steward on the Maheno when she became stranded 'on an island off the Queensland coast. The Japanese owners of that vessel are reported to be sending out a crew to attempt to refloat the Maheno, and they are confident that they will-succeed. -