INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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complete rewinding of large motors, and all types of engineering, electrical, sanitary, refrigerating and under- water work can be carried out. General civil engineering and construction work is also undertaken. During 1957 repairs were carried out on 1,630 vessels aggregating 8,770,000 gross tons.
Other yards are concerned with the smaller types of wooden and steel craft such as ferries, lighters, yachts, launches and native-type vessels.
There are six granite dry docks in the Colony, the largest being 787 feet overall and 93 feet 4 inches wide. Two stationary hammerhead cranes each with a lifting capacity of 150 tons, and a crane barge with sheer legs of 40 tons lifting capacity, are available. Other facilities include foundries which can handle castings up to 30 tons, ocean- going towage and salvage vessels, and a fleet of harbour repair launches.
Throughout 1957 shipyards in the Colony were kept constantly busy. The Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Co. of Hong Kong Ltd. handed over a cargo vessel of 5,790 gross tons to China Navigation Co. Ltd. and launched a sister ship for the same owners. Cheoy Lee Shipyard launched a number of small commercial craft and further enhanced its reputation as a yacht builder of the first rank.
Iron Foundries and Rolling Mills. Other heavy industries represented in Hong Kong are iron foundries and mills rolling iron and steel reinforcing bars and rounds, and brass and aluminium strips and sheets. Production is mostly absorbed locally by extensive building projects and the metal products industries, although sizeable quantities of bars and rounds are shipped abroad, principally to Asian territories.
LIGHT INDUSTRIES
Textiles. Since 1948 the textile industry has expanded rapidly to become the Colony's major industry. Spinning