H.—44c.

Distributing Facilities. With the advent of bulk shipment it became necessary to provide tank wagons and pumps for retail distribution. The companies had at the 31st May, 1931, installed throughout the Dominion a considerable number of pumps as mentioned hereunder. Pumps are supplied to retail sellers on the basis of £10 deposit and 10s. per annum as rent. The company maintains pumps in good working-order and repaints as required. Garage-proprietors and others who install their own pumps are allowed bv the major oil companies a rebate of id. per gallon on the total gallonage sold through such pumps. Company-owned pumps total 6,962 ; value, £923,010 17s. Bd. ; per pump, £.133 ; installed by reseller, 692 : total pumps, 7,654. In addition to the foregoing, a further relatively small number of pumps have been installed by importers other than the four major companies. The total number of motor-vehicles registered in New Zealand at the 30th June, 1931, was 217,902, and comprised the following classes of vehicles :— Motor-cars .. .. .. .. .. 152,170 Trucks .. .. .. .. .. 29,972 Motor-buses .. .. .. .. .. 1,234 Tractors .. .. .. .. ... 447 Other motor-vehicles .. .. .. .. 495 Motor-cycles .. .. .. .. .. 33,584 - 217/902 ' ' _ It will therefore be seen that on an average there is at least one pump to every twenty-nine motorvehicles. Plant, Equipment, and other Property. The total value of plant, equipment, and other fixed assets owned by the four companies including pumps stated above is recorded at £3,129,763. Interest on this capital outlay at, say, 7 per cent., equals £219,083 per annum. This charge has not been taken into account in overhead expenses. In addition, of course, other large sums are invested or employed by the companies in the Dominion, particularly in the form of working capital and book debts. The information submitted in the report up to the last section refers more particularly to the operations of the major oil companies. The f.o.b. invoice price, freight rates, and other costs associated with the importation of motor-spirit have been obtained, as previously stated, from the records kept by each company. The Department has, however, secured similar information from an independent source, and these details are submitted hereunder, subject to the qualifications regarding the f.o.b. values and freight rates referred to in clause 3 of the summary at the end of this report. Cabled Quotation from New Zealand Trade Commissioner at Toronto on the 18th August, 1931, for 400-end-point Motor-spirit. (equal to Second-grade Motor-spirit imported into New Zealand). Per Imperial Gallon. d. F.o.b. cost 4-Jc., American gallon (at $4-84 to £1) .. .. 2-528 Tanker freight rate at 18s. per ton plus Is. for each additional port— say, three ports —21s. per ton at 302 gallons per ton (see previous remarks relative to tanker freights) .. ... .. 0-834 Marine insurance J per cent. . . . . .. .. . . 0-008 Exchange, 10J per cent., on New York . . .. . . 0-399 3-769 Duty .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6-300 Wharfage and landing charges .. .. .. .. 0-168 Leakage (say, 1 per cent.) . . . . . . . . . . 0-037 10-274 r Sundry Importers. Information was secured from ten of the leading independent firms. In almost every case purchases are made in cases and/or drums on a c.i.f. basis, and from information obtained it appears that the principal importers have been buying during the year ending the 31st March, 1931, at the following c.i.f. rates per imperial gallon : — Importer. C^ ses - D ™ ms ' A .. .. .. .. 12-706 11-25 B .. .. .. .. 12-927 10-891 C .. .. .. .. 13-825 11-460 D .. .. .. 13-875 11-500 E .. .. .. .. 13-375 11-400 F .. .. .. .. 13-300 The majority of importers of motor-spirit in cases and drums are established business houses engaged in other commercial enterprises, and the sale of motor-spirit is to some extent a side-line in order to secure the whole of the requirements of their clients. The companies referred to do not keep

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