High Loading Costs
p. 55 · Read in the full issue
New Zealand Trade With Fiji Lost to Australia
BECAUSE loading costs in New Zealand are twice as high as they are in Australia, it is practically impossible for N.Z. merchants to sell goods to Fiji in competition with Australia. That was the conclusion reached by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, after investigat ing *the decline of New Zealand trade with Fiji. Freight rates are controlled more by loading and unloading charges than by distance travelled—in this case, at any rate.
A letter on the subject of freight rates received from the Union Steam Ship Co. stated that handling charges in New Zealand had so greatly increased dur ing the past year or two. owing to in creased wages and reduced working time, as to preclude any possibility of freight reductions.