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prices were some 25% lower than Company I's prices;
the Company had been forced to close one plant; had
reduced its working week; and man hours worked had been
reduced by 20%. Company II, making men's and boys' woven
m.m.f. and cotton/n.n.f. blend shirts, reported it was
suffering from competition from long Kong and Japan;
price differences were in the region of 25%; 150 workers
had been discharged; 10,000 man hours had been lost; plans
for expansion had been scraped and the overall sales
volume was down. Company III, naking children's woven
playwear of m.n.f. and cotton/n.n.f. blends had suffered
competition from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea; price
differences were in the region of 25% - 3%; the Company,
situated in a one company town, had gone out of business.
60.
As far as knitted outerwear was concerned,
Mr. Nehmer continued, the inport/consumption ratio was
in the region of 50%. Some 89 factories had closed down
in 1967/68.
Admittedly not all the close-downs were due
solely to imports but there had been another 33 companies
which had closed so far in 1969. A Dum & Bradstreet survey
had showed that in 1967, the average margin of profit
deriving from knitted outerwear, after tax, had been
99/100ths of 1%; many companies had reported no profit
at all. As for worsted fabrics, a major textile company
in the United States with plants concentrated heavily
/in
CONFIDENTIAL