COMPANY MEETING
BRITISH TIN INVESTMENT CORPORATION
BENEFITS OF RESTRICTION THE annual general meeting of British Tin Investment Corporation, Limited, was held on January 23rd in London. Mr. E. V. Pearce, who nresided, said that the balance-sheet showed evidence of the fully invested position referred to last year, and it was a matter of congratulation that they lad been able not only to maintain but even to increase slightly their gross and net income from investments.
The restriction scheme and the buffer stock had had to beat the strain of war, and he asserted that their usefulness had never been more clearly proved. Now something short of complete success could be condoned when restriction had had to weather the first dark squalls of the war; it was true that for a short time, largely because of a depreciation. in sterling, it had been necessary to allow tin to reach a higher price than that aimed at, but what was frequently forgotten was that it had been the operation of the buffer stock, and above all, of that provision of the restriction scheme which had permuted mine-head stocks of 25 per cent. of the assessment to be accumulated and held, which alone had pre- vented a disorganised and inflated and therefore an ultimately dis- astrous rise in the price of tin from taking place.
Under no system of free competition and price could production have been so readily and rapidly expanded to meet the tremendous demands of a world plunged into war. That demand had passed all records. In the last four months of the past year it was esti- mated that in the United States of America at least 35,000 tons were bought, whilst in the United Kingdom consumption was now running at the rate of 36,000 tons per annum compared with a high level during the last war of 30,000 tons in 1915 and a peace- time high record of 26,000 tons in 1937.
It might be thought that dui demand and that apparent con- sumption were due in the main to the desire by users of tin to restock themselves. Now that was only partly so; it was true that the increased length of the voyage due to war conditions, the convoy system, and so forth, led to larger quantities being locked up in transit and called consequently for what he might term a larger working capital of tin metal in the world, but on the whole it could be said that the tin was going into manufactured goods— for instance, from tin to tinplates and from tinplates into cans.
In conclusion he might predict that although the recent unpre- cedented demand could hardly be expected to continue the pros- pects for the industry in 1940 were indeed bright. The report was unanimously adopted and a final dividend of 51 per cent., making 7 per cent. for the year, was approved.
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