BRITISH TRADE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23205, 1 June 1937, Page 2

BRITISH TRADE

FIRST QUARTER OF 1937 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS INCREASE BOARD OF TRADE FIGURES (From Our Own Correspondent) (By Air Mail) LONDON, May 5. On the basis of declared values, Great Britain’s imports, domestic exports and re-exports were at a substantially higher level last quarter than in the first quarter of the base year, 1935. After making allowances for price changes in the interval, the volume of imports shows n increase of 11 per cent., of exports by 9 per cent., and of reexports by only 2 per cent. The average values of Imports, exports and re-exports were respectively 16, 5, and 32 per cent, higher than in the corresponding quarter of 1935, and 12, 4, and 24 per cent, above those of the first quarter of 1936. These facts are supplied by the latest issue of the Board of Trade Journals. Comparing the first quarter of this year with the corresponding period of 1936. imports increased in volume by 2| per cent., and United Kingdom exports by 10 per cent., while the volume of re-exports declined by 41 per cent. In comparison with the last quarter of 1936, imports and domestic exports showed seasonal declines, the former amounting to 9| per cent, and the latter to under 2 per cent., being smaller than usual; re-exports showed a seasonal increase of 12J per cent. Imports and domestic exports had both tended to show an increase in average values throughout 1936, though the rise in respect of domestic exports had been slight; the rate of increase was accelerated in the first quarter of this year, the average value of imports being 5 per cent, higher than in the preceding quarter and that of domestic exports about 2 per cent, higher. In the case of re-exports the average value was 12 per cent, higher than in the preceding quarter, but comparisons in respect of re-exports are largely affected by changes in the proportions of the various commodities entering into such trade. Regarding the average value of retained imports of food, the rise compared with a year ago applied to all groups except meat, for which no appreciable change occurred, and dairy produce, which declined by less than 3 per cent. Substantial increases were shown for some of the remaining groups, the most important being in respect of grain and flour (42 per cent.) and beverages and cocoa preparations (20 per cent.). For the class as a whole average values were nearly 3 per cent, higher than in the last quarter of 1936. Retained imports of raw materials last quarter were 6 per cent, greater in volume than a year earlier and 17 per cent, greater than in the corresponding quarter of 1935. Comparing the first quarter of this year and last, substantial variations occurred in respect of individual groups, seven showing increases and five declines. The largest relative increases were for textile materials, other than cotton, wool and silk

(33 per cent.), undressed hides and skins (26 per cent.), and raw cotton, etc. (22 per cent.), while there were substantial decreases for iron ore and scrap (25 per cent.), raw silk, etc. (17 per cent.), and raw wool, etc. (16 per cent.). Compared with the last quarter of 1936, retained imports of raw materials showed a seasonal decline in volume of about 6 per cent. Average values for raw materials as a whole were about 12 per cent, above those of the corresponding period of 1936 and 18 per cent, higher than in the first quarter of 1935. Only four groups showed declines as compared with the first quarter of 1936, the largest being for undressed hides and skins (5 per cent.); among the increases, the most important were in respect of raw wool, etc. (31 per cent.), non-ferrous ores and scrap (16 per cent.) and wood and timber (15 per cent.). For the class as a whole, average values were about 6| per cent, higher than in the preceding quarter. MANUFACTURED ARTICLES The volume of exports last quarter of articles wholly or mainly manufactured was nearly 10 per cent, greater than in the corresponding quarter of either 1935 or 1936. It was also slightly higher than in the last quarter of 1936, whereas there is usually a decline between the last quarter of one year and the first of the next. Of the 20 groups in this class, only three showed a decline compared with a year earlier. These were the three smallest groups in this class, and only for one, manufactures of wood and timber (5 per cent.), did the decline exceed 2 per cent. For woollen and worsted yarns and manufactures, for miscellaneous textile manufactures and for apparel there were also increases. The volume of exports of iron and steel and manufactures was 26 per cent, greater than a year earlier, and for vehicles (including locomotives, ships and aircraft) there was an increase of 27 per cent.; the increase for machinery was only 2 per cent. An increase of 17 per cent, was recorded for chemicals, drugs, dyes and colours. Average values of manufactured articles were some 3 to 4 per cent, higher than in the first quarter of 1935 or 1936 and 2 per cent, above those in the fourth quarter of last year. For all but four of the 20 groups, average values were higher than a year ago. Cotton and woollen and worsted yarns and manufactures each, showed a rise of about 6 per cent., but for miscellaneous textile manufactures there was a decline of about 1| per cent. Among the heavy trades, average values of iron and steel rose by 2| per cent., of machinery by 5 per cent, and of nonferrous metals by nearly 10 per cent.; for vehicles, including locomotives, ships and aircraft, a decline of about 3| per cent, was recorded. Average values of coke and manufactured fuel rose by 17 per cent, and of leather and manufactures by 11| per cent.