NEW ZEALAND COAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 32, 7 February 1941, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND COAL

SUPPLIES INCREASING HEAVIER DEMANDS MADE ( Per Press Association, j WELLINGTON, Feb. 6. Coal supplies from New Zealand mines were increasing, not decreasing. said Mr. T. O. Bishop, secretary of the New Zealand Coalmine Owners’ Association, to-day. He pointed out that trouble in obtaining sufficient coal was due to a heavily increased demand for New Zealand produce. Mr. Bishop's attention was drawn to the statements at Auckland recently, that the Auckland Electric-power Board, in common with other power boards, was short of coal, and a shortage might result in restrictions in the use of electricity. Actually, said Mr. Bishop, the New Zealand mines were producing more coal than in former years, but the Auckland Power Board was now the consumer for a very much greater quantity' of coal than it ever required before. Because of the inability of hydroelectric plants to cope with the demand for power, the railways, said Mr. Bishop, were also making an extra demand on ,New Zealand coal mines, one of the reasons being their inability to import Australian coal and another the increased freight loads due to military requirements. Petrol restrictions had also made for a greater coal consumption. New Zealand colleries had been called upon to supply extra coal for power, railways, and gas, and this had affected other consumers. There was no doubt that the utmost resources of the coal mines, particularly in the North Island, would be taxed in the current year.