CO129-581-16 British propaganda in Hong Kong 18-4-1939 - 29-10-1939 — Page 92

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Steady Commercial Activity.

3

The latest reports of the British coal industry and of the

shipping movement at British ports reflect the steady increase in

the commercial activity of the country. During the week ended on

the 24th of June the latest period for which returns are available

the quantity of coal raised in Great Britain was 4,374,000 tons,

as against 4,159,200 tons in the corresponding period of last year.

Simultaneously the profit-earning capacity of the coal-mining in-

dustry has improved to a marked extent. The ascertained profits

of the industry in the first quarter of this year were £5,584,700,

or a rise of 2100,000 over the first quarter of 1938.

profits in January-March this year were higher than in any other

quarter since Jamary March 1984. In the first half of this year

6,500,000 tons of Welsh woal were soid to foreign markets.

Indeed the

These

sales brought in £7,100,000, which is slightly less than in the

first six months of 1938, owing to lower prices, but Welsh coal

exporters are gaining ground in Italy, South America, Belgium and

Holland.

As regards the shipping movement, foreign-trade arrivals of

ships with cargo at United Kingdom ports in May this year showed

an increase in net tonnage of 22 per cent compared with lay, 1938,

and there was an increase of 6 per cent of ships in ballast.

Departures with cargo ruached the highest total for a liay month

since 1930, and exceeded by 12 per cent the tonnage for May, 1938,

while departures of ships in ballast declined by 2 per cent, as

compared with May, 1958.