HOARDING WAR STORES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23501, 16 May 1938, Page 10

HOARDING WAR STORES

AUSTRALIA FOLLOWS BRITAIN OILS, METALS AND CHEMICALS (From Our Own Cokresrondemti SYDNEY, May 7. Australia is closely following Great Britain’s policy of accumulating reserves of supplies to meet an emergency. While Great Britain is storing up foodstuffs, Australia is building up stocks of materials not procurable here, but necessary for defence. The plans are being kept secret, but the Minister for Defence, Mr Thorby, revealed that the Federal Government is negotiating with oil companies for the building up of large supplies of petrol, fuel oil, and lubricating oil. Maintenance of petrol stores presents difficulties. Petrol tends to deteriorate if stored for more than about two years. The plan being evolved will provide that, although stores will always be large, there will be no long accumulation of individual consignments of fuel.. Stores will be used as the ordinary source of the Commonwealth’s peace-time supplies, and fuel withdrawn from time to time will be replaced immediately by fresh supplies. Other materials of which stocks will be provided will be various forms of non-ferrous metal sheets, bars, and tubes used in the manufacture of munitions, and aluminium, and other light metals not at pressent manufactured in Australia. It will be necessary, also, to provide supplies of the key chemical substances used in the manufacture of explosives. These include nitrates and the low-grade cotton used for modern propellants. Chemical reserves will be established to permit of the production of flares and possibly of gases. By working through ordinary wheat-buying channels and remaining in the background, the British Government was able to buy immense quantities of Australian wheat for its emergency stocks. It was able to keep its secret so well as to prevent sky-rocketing of prices. Many men in Sydney’s big wheat firms worked for the British Government during the past three months. There were rumours that the real buyer was the British Government, but the orders came through in the usual way through the big English importers and flour millers, and nothing leaked out to confirm the rumours. A leading wheat merchant said that it was obvious now that the British Government was the cause of the recent intensive buying. During that period about 20 cargoes of Australian wheat were bought. The British ceased when wheat touched 6s lOd a cental, and it was obvious that it would commence buying again when prices dropped to a low level. Australian farmers benefited, not only by the sale of many cargoes, but by the steadying influence on wheat prices by the purchases. Another leading Sydney wheat man said that the British Government did most of its buying through the English wheat-milling firm, Joseph Ranks, Ltd.