358 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



| 1 1 i \ i, 1903. 



The Congo Rubber Movement. 



EXP »RTS of rusher from the Congo Free State during 1902 

 arc officially stated as follows : 



Kilos. Value. 



Total rubber exports 5,804,030 45.271,434 francs. 



Pro luct of the State 5.350,452 41, 783,525" " 



The arrivals at Antwerp daring the year 1902 embraced 5,- 

 403,985 kilograms, from all sources, of which 4992.954 kilo- 

 grams were from the Congo Free State. The difference be- 

 tween the Antwerp receiptsand the output of the Free State is 

 doubtless to be accounted for in the Rotterdam trade in Congo 

 rubbers, the arrivals there of this grade in 1902 having amount- 

 ed to 899.750 kilograms. 



Bordeaux. 



K. I1i.m<\ ,V ("1 1. report [June 8] a very calm market, with 

 prices lower by 1 5(</ 20 centimes per kilogram. Arrivals dur- 

 ing the week were 21,000 kilograms Casamance and 5000 kilo- 

 grams Soudan. Stocks remaining were 6789 kilograms Sou- 

 dan and 5500 Mayumba. 



Tara. 



Kan 111 m k & Co. report [June 8] : " In consequence of ad- 

 verse infl jences in the consuming centers, a quiet tone has per- 

 vaded this market, interrupted occasionally by a transitory ap- 

 pearance of better demand ; altogether, business is now con- 

 fined within narrow limits on account of small supplies, which, 

 in accordance with the pending close of the present and re- 

 opening of the new crop season, will remain of slender dimen- 

 sions for some months to come." 



Rubber Product of the Lower Amazon. 



In a review of uibbcr statistics from Manaos for the cal- 

 endar year 1902, in the June number of this Journal, we es- 

 timated the rubber product of the state of Para for that period at 

 10,832^ tons. This estimate is practically confirmed by some 

 details' since supplied to The India Rubber World by a 

 leading house in Para, which permits the following compar- 

 ison to be made of the arrivals at Para during two whole 

 crop seasons, and eleven months of the last season, as dis- 

 tinguished between produce of Para state and of the Upnver 

 regions. The figures indicate metrical tons and include 

 Caucho : 



Para stale Upriver, Total. 



Crop year 190001 9,23s 18,372 27,610 



Crop year 1 go I -02 10,420 19,662 30,000 



July-May 1902 03 ([[ months) 10.4SQ 17.S23 2S.<i<)<> 



The first interest in these figures is in their showing of the 

 sustained production of rubber on the lower Amazon. In spite 

 of this region having been longest worked, and presumably 

 more closely worked than any other in South America, the fact 

 remains that the volume of receipts from Para state is now 

 larger than ever before. It is true that, by the extension of 

 rubber gathering into the state of Amazonas, up the river, and 

 into Bolivia and Peru, the product of Para is now greatly ex- 

 ceeded by that from the new fields, but not because of any de- 

 cline in the Para output. The figures credited to Para do in- 

 clude nowadays some rubber collected in the state of Matto 

 Grosso, and arriving via the river Tapajoz, but this is estimated 

 by our correspondent not to exceed 50 to 100 tons in a year. 

 Another point of interest is the increasing production in Para 

 state of Caucho, which formerly was obtained only upstream. 

 The entries of Para Caucho increased from 66 tons in 1900 01, 

 and 82 tons in 1901-02, to 322 tons [ = 708,400 poundsj in the 

 first eleven months of the crop year just closed. 



Following are some figures from other sources, stating the 

 total entries of rubber (and Caucho) at Para for several crop 

 years, and the amount of the same produced in the state of 



Para, showing the production of that state to have increased 

 steadily. [The asterisk (*) indicates quantities on which ex- 

 port duties were collected in certain years — practically the 

 same thing as the amounts arrived! : 



I otal, Par 1 Total. Pard. 



1889-90 15.300 4.644* 1894-95 10,430 S.2IO* 



1890-91 16, 8(10 7.304* 1895-96 21,020 8, 70S* 



1891-92 1S.440 6,474* 189697 22320 8,576 



1892-93 18.990 S 241* 1897-98 22,250 8919 



1S93-94 19,710 8,049* 1898-99 25,370 9,839 



It is of course an encouraging fact, if it be proved that the 

 /A ',j rubber species are capable of such treatment that they 

 may be kept productive indefinitely. It would appear, from the 

 above figures, to be a mistaken idea that rubber gatherers have 

 constantly gone further up the Amazon because the earlier rub- 

 ber fields had become exhausted. They go upriver to meet a 

 steadily increasing demand for rubber. New rubber fields are 

 undoubtedly richer in yield at first, and new settlements afford 

 for awhile the possibility of larger profits in bartering merchan- 

 dise to native rubber gatherers, but there appears to be still 

 enough profit possible in the lower Amazon region to keep up 

 the rate of production, and to enlarge it year by year. 



Rubber Receipts at Manaos. 



DURING May and for the first eleven months of the crop 

 season [by courtesy of Messrs. Witt & Co.] : 



_ Ma-.. J u 1. v - M a y. 



From — 



1903. 1902. root. 1903. 1902. 1901. 



Rio I'urris tons 420 360 291 5912 6673 5931 



Rio Madeira 89 62 66 2249 2756 2553 



Rio Jurus 1S3 137 61 3576 3588 2882 



Rio Javary — Icjuitos 29 88 8 1502 1301 1239 



Rio SolimOes 43 22 50 134S 1530 1172 



Rio Negro 16 13 38 651 369 508 



Total 7S0 682 514 15238 16217 14285 



Caucho 596 498 743 3354 32S5 3619 



Total 1376 11S0 1257 18592 19502 17904 



ORDERS have been issued for the collection of export duties 

 on all Acre rubber shipped abroad direct at the rate of 23 per 

 cent, ad valorem — the same as ruling at Manaos. When the 

 rubber is consigned to Manaos or Para, export duties are to be 

 collected at those ports. Of the duties on all rubber proceeding 

 from the upper Acre (south of parallel 10 io') 11^ percent, is 

 to be credited to the Bolivian government. While Bolivia con- 

 trolled the Acre customs, the export duty on rubber was 15 

 per cent, ad valorem. 



IMPORTS FROM PARA AT NF.W YORK. 



[The Figures Indicate Weights in Pounds.] 

 June 3. — By the steamer Amazonense, from Manaos and Tara : 



Importers. Fine. Medium. Coarse. Caucho. Toral 



Poel & Arnold 113,500 58,700 54,200 71,000= 297,400 



A. T. Morse & Co 146,500 28,700 38,600 43,000= 256,800 



New York Commercial Co. St. 500 13.300 35,700 2,800= 133,300 



Edmund Reeks & Co .... 33.000= 33,000 



United States Rubber Co 31,600 = 31.600 



Thomsen & Co 2,300 5,Soo = 8,100 



L. Hagenaers & Co 2,800 3,000 = 5,Soo 



II. A. Gould Co 1.400 .. .. 600 = 2,000 



Total 348,000 100,700 169,500149.800 



June 2}. — By the steamer Hilary, from Manaos and Para 



Poel & Arnold 30.300 14.000 



A. T. Morse & Co 43,100 7, "00 



New York Commercial Co. 51,400 9.100 



Il3gemeyer & Brunn 12,100 300 



United States Rubber Co 



William Wright & Co. .. . 13.300 1,800 

 Edmund Reeks & Co.... 8,800 2,000 

 Lionel Hagenaers & Co., 7,000 



44.300 33,200= 



68,900 300= 



26,500 10,400= 



5,200 20,700= 



29,100 = 



13.700 = 



4,900 = 



4,400 = 



768,000 



121. 800 

 120,000 

 97,400 

 38,300 

 29,IOO 

 28,800 

 15.700 

 11,400 



Total 166,000 34,900 167,900 93,700= 462,500 



