LESS CARGO FOR JAPAN

Southland Times, Issue 23306, 16 September 1937, Page 4

LESS CARGO FOR JAPAN

CONTRACTION OF BUYING POWER IMPORTANCE OF WOOL TO TRADE (Special to The Times) AUCKLAND, September 15. Through the contraction of buying power in Japan a sharp decrease in the cargo tonnage shipped from Auckland has been experienced in the past few weeks. The Osaka Shosen Kaisha motor-ship Melbourne Maru which left today for Kobe, via southern ports, carried almost a negligible quantity of goods. “The export trade to Japan has fallen practically to nothing in the past month,” stated an agent. Evidence of this was shown in the sprinkling of cargo loaded by the Melbourne Maru which took small quantities of tallow, hides, wool, milk powder and similar primary produce. In the absence of any official statement little apprehension is being shown about the cabled report that Japan would cancel its wool purchases from New Zealand altogether in the coming season. A certain amount of wool sold privately is already leaving the Dominion. Last month the Sydney Maru took 50 bales from Auckland and a similar quantity left Auckland by the Melbourne Maru, including a larger cargo from Lyttelton. It is expected that the Melbourne Maru will take between 600 and 700 bales from New Zealand this voyage. Japanese shipping services trading to the Dominion rely to a major degree upon wool consignments and would be seriously affected if the rumour of cancellation had any foundation. One shipping agent stated that practically three-quarters of their earnings were derived from the carriage of New Zealand wool, which comprised almost all the cargo exported for six months of the year. Further emphasis on the importance of wool to trade was given in a statement that over the year’s workings half the outward cargo handled was wool.