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PART ll. INDUSTRIES SECTION I.—INTRODUCTORY The pressure of demand for buildings, labour, materials, and power continued throughout the year, although the effect of these conditions was not, of course, equal in each type of industry or in every locality. In some cases the labour position was not as acute as in the recent past. For some industries the flow of raw materials has improved, although, unfortunately, this cannot be said of those very important commodities, iron and steel, in their many varieties. Full statistics of factory production are not yet available for periods later than the year 1945-46, but progressive development in secondary industry in New Zealand is shown by the following statistics. With the shortages that have inevitably existed during the war years, and since, the industrial expansion is, indeed, remarkable. We can, I am certain, look forward to an even greater measure of expansion when most of the existing impediments, an aftermath of the war, have been substantially removed :

In the more detailed review of individual industries which follows statistics are given, where they are available, for 1938-39 as the latest pre-war year and for the year 1945-46, with interim figures for 1946-47. In almost all cases expansion in the period has been most striking. SECTION 2.—BUILDING MATERIALS, ROPE AND TWINE, PAPER (a) Wallboard and Building Sheet of Plaster 1938-39. 1945-46. 1946-47.f Number of units engaged .. .. .. * 55 Number of persons engaged .. .. * 803 829 Salaries and wages paid .. .. * £303,209 £318,000 Value of output * £1,160,207 £1,175,000 * Statistics not available. f Interim figures. Softboard production was maintained at a high level during the year, and, following the arrival of replacement machinery from overseas, production of hardboard was recommenced in July, 1947. To fulfil the demand for hardboard during the temporary cessation of local production provision was made to import supplies from Sweden and Finland. Production of other interior lining boards and fibrous-plaster sheet declined in the year because of the shortage of locally manufactured plaster-of-paris. The volume of plaster-of-paris formerly obtained from Australia has not been available, but provision which has now been made for importation from the United Kingdom, United States of America, and Canada, as well as from Australia, should afford relief to the fibrous-plaster industry. Exterior wallboard production has been

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Year. Number of Establishments. Number of Employees. Salaries and Wages paid. "Value of Output. Value of Land, Buildings, and Plant. £ £ £ 1925-26 4,794 78,708 16,153,822 82,358,851 54,388,936 1935-36 5,536 86,588 14,844,367 90,014,748 67,438,879 1938-39 6,146 102,535 22,270,010 114,447,426 76,497,802 1945-46 6,991 128,208 41,499,113 195,258,614 103,890,518 1946-47* 133,989 45,153,000 216,462,000 * Interim figures.