%.)
were respectively 3,400 tons, 10,800 tons and 10,000 tons and
rubber machinery was imported to the value of £26,500; £65,500
and £120,600 respectively. The proportions of this machinery
which were imported from Empire sources were respectively 78 per
cent., 30 per cent. and 52 per cent. No details are forthcoming
under different classes of goods but the total value of rubber goods
manufactured locally in 1926-27 was reported to be £6,220,000.
More recent figures should show increases, as 16,000 tons of crude
rubber were absorbed in 1929.
Exports.
84. Exports of rubber manufactured goods from Australia are
small and fluctuate considerably from year to year. In the three
years 1925-26 to 1927-28 they totalled respectively £106,000,
£54,000 and £68,000. Miscellaneous rubber goods comprise the
greater portion of these. Thus: —
Value of Exports of Rubber Goods of Australian Manufacture.
Hose ses 25 we _—
Tyres including tubes ... we
Boots, shoes, etc. ... _— oe vee
Other rubber goods -— ee wri
Total ...
1925-26.
EON)
-2
y
1926-27. | 1927-28.
£000
3
7
1
38
£000
6
12
1
49
Bd
68
New Zealand and portions of the British Empire in the
Jouthern Seas are the chief destination of these exports.
XVIIL.—THE INDUSTRY IN OTHER PARTS OF THE
BRITISH EMPIRE.
85. In several other parts of the British Empire factories exist
for the manufacture of rubber goods. These mostly serve only
part of the needs of the local market, and hardly participate
at all in the export trade. Two of the largest of these fac-
tories are in South Africa and Singapore. In the Union the
industry centres in the South African Rubber Manufacturing Com-
pany, Ltd., originally a subsidiary of the British firms of Spencer
Moulton and Wood-Milne. Works were established in Natal in
1921, but later were moved to the outskirts of Johannesberg.
' Mechanical *’ rubber, soles and heels are the chief products of
the factory. In Singapore, in Mr. Tan Kah Kee’s factory, rubber
boots and shoes, bicycle tyres and various miscellaneous rubber
