PRODUCTION
The two main shipyards in the Colony are the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd. and the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Co. of Hong Kong Ltd.
As an illustration of the volume of business undertaken one company, during 1952, drydocked over 300 vessels with an aggregate of over 800,000 gross tons and carried out repairs to some 400 other vessels alongside its wharves and seawalls or at anchor in the harbour.
Included in the category of heavy industries are the factories rolling iron and steel bars and rounds, four of which have been set up in the past few years. These mills employ over 700 workers and while the bulk of their production is intended for local consump- tion, to meet the Colony's extensive building projects, a proportion is available for export. During 1952, over 6,500 tons valued at approximately £350,000 were exported to countries in the Far East, the most impor- tant customer being Thailand.
LIGHT INDUSTRIES
It has been mentioned, that Hong Kong manufac- tures a large variety of good quality products; these are too varied to mention in detail, but the most important are :—
Sugar refining
Although a number of small factories are engaged in the manufacture of various sugar products, the only large scale refinery in the Colony is that estab- lished in 1884, by the Taikoo Sugar Refining Co. Ltd. During the Japanese occupation the plant sus- tained considerable damage and had to be completely
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