HARDWOOD RECORD 



33 



The Foreign Lumber Trade 



The information embodied in this article 

 ivas culled from various numbers of the 

 Daily Consular and Trade Reports issued by 

 the Bureau of Manufactures of the United 

 States Department of Commerce and Labor. 



In this connection Vice-Consul Paul 

 Knabenshue of Belfast. Ireland, recently sent 

 in a suggestion that is worth consideration 

 by exporters. He brings forward a simple 

 plan whereby the compilation of reports on 

 foreign trade conditions as requested by ex- 

 porters of specific products from this country 

 may be considerably expedited. 



Usually such requests are general and while 

 the investigations might cover the subject in 

 a thorough ra.Tnuer, in fact they usually give 

 considerable valuable matter which is not 

 especially solicited in the request, it often 

 happens that information really required 

 but not definitely requested is omitted. Mr. 

 Knabenshue states that the Consular Service 

 will be greatly aided in its work if such let- 

 ters from exporters are put in the form of a 

 number of specific questions such as the writer 

 might ask if actually present. 



Columbia 



The lumber trade in Columbia is summarized 

 in the report of Consul-Gencral Jay White of 

 Bogota, who reports that the populated districts 

 all have abundant available supplies of timber 

 to meet local requirements. 



Inland freight rates are prohibitive so far as 

 American timber shipments are concerned, 

 though river and seaports place occasional 

 foreign orders for lumber. 



A few Pacific and Caribbean ports in which 

 some dock and railroad timber, building and ship 

 material is used offer the best available market 

 for American products. 



American woods must usually be impregnated 

 or otnerwise treated with preservatives to render 

 tnem available for use. 



Detailed maps containing a vast amount of in- 

 formation pertinent to the lumber industry in 

 Columbia are available at the Bureau of Manu- 

 facture. 



AtrSTRIA-HONGABY 



Merchandise from abroad, according to the re- 

 port by Consul George M. Hotschick of Trieste, 

 Is discharged in a free port outside of that city. 

 Here goods not to be shipped immediately may 

 be stored in the government's warehouses, rents 

 being charged according to duty. Duty is levied 

 only when shipments leave the free port for 

 inland points. If the cargo is consigned to be 

 reexported it does not get inside of the city 

 limits, but is reshipped directly from the free 

 port and no duty charged. -V large new harbor 

 for nondutlable goods is soon to be opened. Hero 

 will be ample yards and sheds for the storage 

 of a large amount of lumber. Timber is stored 

 in the open at a cost of 1/10 cent for the equiva- 

 lent of 220.4 pounds. 



PORTDGAI. 



Concerning the dock facilities at Lisbon, Con- 

 sul-General Louis H. Ayme of that city writes 

 as follows : 



"There are no docks in Lisbon, all importers 

 sending their own lighters to receive the goods 

 when the vessels discharge their cargoes In the 

 stream, and their own foremen and laborers to 

 land and store the cargo when the discharge Is 

 alongside quay. All timber cargoes are dis- 

 charged alongside the quay at Entreposto da 

 Santos, where the cargoes are separated and 

 piled according to dimensions and measured by 

 customs officers. Steamers drawing 21 feet can 

 go alongside this quay and about 80 standards 

 (standard=165 cubic feet) are discharged each 

 day. Lumber is discharged alongside at the 

 Santos quay, but staves are loaded Into lighters 

 In the stream. Staves constitute the largest 



single item of import from the United States In 

 the lumber trade." 



Ueoguay 



Consul Frederic W. Coding, of Montevideo, in 

 a report on the timber trade of Uruguay states 

 that practically all the lumber used there is Im- 

 ported. He continues : 



"Considerable quantities of walnut come from 

 southern Europe and the United States, which 

 is used in the local manufacture of furniture. 

 Shipments of pine and other kinds of lumber 

 are received from the United States, Brazil, 

 Argentina and Paraguay, moldings being im- 

 ported from Belgium, France and England. How- 

 ever, the importations from the United States 

 exceed many times the combined imports from 

 all other countries, and are composed of white 

 pine, yellow pine and spcuce principally. 



"One consignment of 34,100 feet of hardwood 

 arrived from West Australia last June, which, 

 together with several shipments of railway 

 sleepers to other River Plate ports, shows that 

 Australians are awake to the value of this mar- 

 ket. The only competing country of any mag- 

 nitude is Brazil, whence come large shipments of 

 local pine ; but the lumber from that country is 

 said to be much inferior to the North American 

 article, rotting away in two or three years. 



"The importation of lumber from the United 

 States is Increasing in quantity every year, and 

 has reached such proportions as to merit care- 

 ful attention. 



United Kingdom 



.American houses doing an export business with 

 the Liverpool market operate chiefly through 

 Liverpool brokers, of which there are a large 

 number of reliable houses. 



The general policy of the British trade is to 

 extend long credit to customers. Six months' 

 credit without security is often extended from 

 brokers to merchants, who in turn sell to the 

 consumers on the same terms. 



Transactions in the Liverpool market come 

 under one of three general classes, namely, (1) 

 on cargo In full terms, (2) on ex-quay terms 

 and (3) on yard or stored terms. Under the 

 first heading most large transactions, usually in 

 soft woods from this side, are grouped. Smaller 

 transactions, usually In United States hardwoods, 

 are, as a rule, under the ex-quay terms class, 

 and In this case the shipper is considered to own 

 the stock until it is landed and consequently 

 must pay landing charges. Class three covers 

 but few sales and relates to transactions In 

 which the brokers find It more advisable to store 

 lumber than to sell on ex-quay terms, and the 

 shipper must pay all charges up to the time the 

 stock Is taken from storage. Storage charges 

 usually amount to 4 cents per ton in the open 

 and one-half more under cover. Landing charges 

 include porterage or proper sorting and dis- 

 tribution of the cargo on the dock, and a charge 

 Is made for hauling over the dock estate. 



Outside of the courts there Is no trade board 

 of arbitration to settle disagreements between 

 Liverpool merchants and brokers and the ship- 

 pers In the United States. Often brokers are re- 

 quested, as disinterested parties, to act as ar- 

 bitrators, and in case this method does not 

 satisfy both sides each appoints an arbitrator, 

 who before acting choose a suitable umpire. 

 Such umpires must not only be trade experts, 

 but must be impartial and disinterested and are 

 not easy to secure. 



Gerjiany 



Consul-General Robert C. Skinner at Hamburg 

 is working to secure the establishment of a ware- 

 house and lumber market in that place under 

 American control and ownership, the object bein^ 

 to eliminate middlemen in the Inland German 

 trade. Efforts to reach this market by making 

 through bills of lading have not proved feasible, 

 as the barge rates to inland points are extremely 



unsettled and railroad rates too high to warrant 

 such shipments. It has always been diflicult for 

 American shippers to discount their drafts on 

 foreign Inland consignees at New York banks, 

 as it is never a certainty that the shipment will 

 meet the demands of German grading and terms. 

 The American market on German soil would 

 make it possible for the buyers to examine 

 stocks before purchasing and hence eliminate 

 this uncertainty. 



American lumber is always sold cash against 

 shipping documents. The ocean bill of lading 

 must be delivered to the banker, as bills of 

 .American railroads are not regarded as con- 

 clusive proof that the cargo is really en route 

 to Europe. Shipments reaching Germany enter 

 the free zone, the consignee assuming payment 

 of the duty in that country. Demurrage charges 

 are levied three days after arrival. 



Bonded storage warehouses, privately owned, 

 take care of the overflow trade. J. F. Milller & 

 Sohn have at present the only such warehouse 

 (or lumber and timber. 



In addition to the regular private sales usually 

 conducted on the cargo in full basis, J. F. 

 Milller & Sohn conduct several auctions annually, 

 sending out catalogs previously showdng the 

 stock to he sold. Brokers usually represent the 

 German houses and receive 1 per cent on log 

 sales and 1% per cent on sales of lumber. These 

 auctions have an approximate average of $100,- 

 000 in actual trade. 



Trade disagreements are usually settled by two 

 arbitrators, and If necessary a third is named 

 by the Chamber of Commerce, whose judgment is 

 final. 



.\11 Hamburg docks are state property and as 

 such are leased to private concerns ; for Instance, 

 the Hamburg-American Line, which is the only 

 line having a regular service between that point 

 and American seaports. 



Quay rates are fixed by government tariff. The 

 lightering concerns have special rates. 



Largest Order on Record 



The Linderman Machine Company, Muskegon, 

 Mich., has received contracts from the Paine 

 Lumber Company of Oshkosh. Wis,, for fifteen 

 Automatic Dovetail Glue Jointers, which is un- 

 doubtedly the largest jointing machine order on 

 record. 



The dovetail method of jointing lumber has 

 been in use at the Paine Lumber Company's plant 

 during the last five years, making the famous 

 "Korelock Door" which originated with the dove- 

 tail glue joint. 



These machines are to be in two sizes, 3-foot 

 ntachines to make rails and 8-foot machines for 

 making stiles. The New Model Automatic Dove- 

 tail Glue Jointer has many new features that 

 will increase the capacity and economize over 

 the machines the Paine people are now using. 

 These machines will be equipped with back guide 

 attachment for jointing on narrow strips, maga- 

 zine feeds for feeding short blocks, cut-off saws 

 which will cut the stock to exact length as they 

 arc being fed into the machine. 



It Is estimated that the Paine Lumber Com- 

 pany is spending a quarter of a million dollars 

 improving its large plant, which will be com- 

 pleted June 1. The company will then have In 

 operation twenty Linderman Automatic Dovetail 

 Glue Jointers, giving a capacity of more than 

 10,000 stock veneered doors per day. This vast 

 expenditure will, undoubtedly, give the Paine 

 company the largest equipment In the world for 

 making veneered doors. 



Considering that there Is hut one operation to 

 complete a glue joint by the dovetail method, 

 there are several operations eliminated, as gluing, 

 jointing, clamping, unclaraping, etc., and the 

 work can be accomplished In a more satisfactory 

 manner and with considerably less room than by 

 other methods. It is further estimated that the 

 saving in glue will be enough to pay the oper- 

 ating expenses of running the machines. 

 FILLER 



