Steel Supplies Cut by 60 Per Cent.
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ALTHOUGH the Government had stated that steel supplies for civilian purposes would be reduced by only 15 per cent., they had been cut by 60 per cent., said Lord Brabazon of Tara, chairman of Associated Commercial Vehicles, Ltd., at the company's annual general meeting last week. He believed that a little more steel would be available later, but for export purposes only.
Supplies would still fall short of minimum needs for export and there might be nothing for the home user for many months to come. Lord Brabazon forecast serious unemployment throughout the commercial-vehicle industry.
He complained that the company was to be told its basic allocation of steel for only the next two months, but the time lag between the date of receiving raw material and the delivery of finished articles might be 12-15 months, or even longer. It was impossible to plan production economically under such conditions.
The past year had been fraught with unusual difficulties, despite which the company exported more vehicles than ever before. The turnover had, however, been reduced, because of the shortage of materials and a decline in the demand for public service vehicle bodywork. Stocks of stores had, during the year, risen by nearly £2m., because of the difficulty of maintaining balanced stocks and increases in prices. It had been necessary to resort to short-term borrowing to finance exports.
The company had on its books rearmament orders totalling many millions of pounds. Lord Brabazon referred to the lengthy process involved in designing and obtaining approval of new vehicles for the Government. Even when final approval was given to the prototype, there was a delay of 12-15 months before the first production deliveries could be made.