PRODUCTION
Type of Mining
Open cast
Open cast
Iron
mining companies, and the importation of mining machinery has been facilitated. The following table shows the Colony's output of minerals for the year: -
Minerals
Clay
Production
Value
5,933.75 tons $ 356,025.00
123,200.00 tons
1,217,600.00
Open cast
Lead
644.60 tons
291,359.20
Underground
Graphite
200.00 tons
30,000.00
Underground
Wolfram (WO3 65%) 313,721.50 lbs.
2,494,827.45
Underground
Molybdenum
3,317.20 lbs.
Underground
Tin
155.70 lbs.
8,823.75
662.80
Manufacturing Industries
General. Although there have been industries in Hong Kong for many years, notably shipbuilding and repairing, which date from the nineteenth century, the present intense industrial development of the Colony started in the nineteen thirties when the introduction of Imperial Preference offered an opportunity to local manufacturers to enter Commonwealth markets successfully. Both world wars stimulated the growth of industries and the Colony produced not only goods no longer obtainable from former sources but also goods for which there was a suddenly increased demand from overseas. Thus, in the years 1939-41 locally built ships and military equipment formed a useful contribution to the United Kingdom's war effort.
All pre-war records of industrial production were lost during the Japanese occupation, but it is estimated that in 1940 there were just over 800 registered and recorded factories and workshops, with about 30,000 workers. Some 500 of these factories were in Kowloon, the remainder on the island. The main industries were shipbuilding and repairing, rubber foot- wear, flashlights, weaving, knitting, metalware, enamelware and food products.
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