BRITISH CUTLERY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 78, Issue 7017, 9 February 1949, Page 5

BRITISH CUTLERY

DECREASED EXPORTS INCREASE IN RAZORS AND BLADES British cutlery exports have declined in the last few months as the result of foreign import restrictions. During the third quarter of the year exports of cutlery, spoons, and forks averaged £300,000 a month, a drop of £30,000 compared with the second quarter. The target figure, fixed for the end of the year, was £500,000 a month. Board of Trade statistics further reveal that cutlery is among a group of commodities in which prices have fallen in contrast with the general trend. For cutlery and implements the price drop is 2% —an indication of increased “sales resistance.” Sheffield cutlery manufacturers have pointed out to the Board of Trade the increasing difficulties created for them by the import licensing restrictions imposed by many countries. Latest monthly export figures are: Cutlery, excluding spoons and forks, £210,000 (target £350,000); spoons and forks, £90,00(1 (target £150,000). Exports of razors and razor blades, on the other hand, have risen in spectacular fashion from £140,000 a month in the second quarter to £220,000 in the third. They are now well above, the end-of-the-year target figure of £lBO,OOO a month. The drop in price of cutlery products has a bearing on the export target, because in April last year, when the targets were fixed, an increase of s'/ in export prices between the end of 1947 and the end of 1948 was assumed.