January i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



155 



tax must have become burdensome. The India Rubber World 

 May 15, 1894 (page 35) mentioned the local rates as then vary- 

 ing from 14 to yi cent per pound. It would appear that a tax 

 has been imposed also on rubber producing camps, and this is 

 to be removed. 



IMPROVEMENT OF PARA HARBOR. 



Some time ago the following announcement appeared in The 

 Brazilian Review, published at Rio dc Janeiro : 



Mr. Ian Barry, as representative of the Port of Para Company, lately 

 signed a contract at the state treasury for the cession on the part of the 

 state of the trapiche Recebedoria to be handed over as from August i. 

 Mr. Barry also signed a contract granting the company the provisional 

 lease of the foreshores laying between the Marine Arsenal and the Souza 

 Franco dock. For the former cession the state received a sum of 200,000 

 milreis. 



The reccbcdoria at Para is the state tax receiving office, and 

 through its trapiche (warehouse) must pass all the exports from 

 the state, of which rubber forms the larger share. The company 

 Port of Para, Limited, is a corporation under the laws of 

 Maine [see The India Rubber World, March i, 1907 — page 192], 

 formed to work a concession granted by the Brazilian govern- 

 ment to Percival Farquhar to improve the port of Para on a large 

 scale, to facilitate shipping at that point. At present vessels are 

 compelled to lie 3 or 4 miles from the port, with the attendant 

 expenses and relays of transfer to and from lighters. Contracts 

 have been entered into for the improvements, with Messrs. S. 

 Pearson & Son, Limited, and other important firms, and work 

 has been begun, but several years will be required for its com- 

 pletion. 



The concession provides, among other things, (i) that during 



the existence of the concession no vessel can clear at Para with- 

 out payment to the company of certain dues established by the 

 concession; and (2) the handling of merchandise for the custom 

 house and warehousing can only be done by the company, at the 

 same fees as now charged by the custom house. The company 

 has an authorized capital of $17,500,000 and bonds have been 

 issued to provide funds for carrying on the work. Interest on 

 the bonds will be provided from a special tax of 2 per cent, upon 

 all imports into the port of Para. The pro.spectus of the company 

 points out the possibility of large earnings, even at the present 

 volume of traffic, while a steady increase in this volume is 

 looked for. 



The interest of this to the rubber trade lies in the fact that 

 through the working out of this plan the company will have a 

 "rake off" on every pound of rubber produced in and exported 

 from the state of Para, and from the paragraph quoted here from 

 the Brazilian paper it will be seen that the collection of fees on 

 rubber is already in effect. Whether or not this will affect de- 

 finitely the rubber trade in any way remains to be seen, but it 

 may at least be noted that for the first time certain large foreign 

 interests are becoining concerned with the traffic of Para, out of 

 which ultimately may grow increased outside investments in the 

 commerce of the Amazon and possibly attempts to control the 

 rubber trade on a scale never before essayed. 



The United States consulate at San Juan del Norte (Grey- 

 town), Nicaragua, has been discontinued, and the office trans- 

 ferred to Bluefields. Hitherto only a consular agency has been 

 maintained at Bluefields. 



Review of the Crude Rubber Market. 



THE market at New York has been rather quiet during the 

 month, without changes of note, the year closing with lower 

 quotations on all Para grades than at the beginning of 

 December. Comparatively few changes are to be noted in our 

 quotations for Africans and Centrals, and such changes are 

 in the nature of declining prices. 



The end of the calendar year, with its holidays, as a rule is 

 taken advantage of by the large rubber manufacturing concerns 

 as a period of stock taking and for repairs, in advance of which 

 the buying of raw materials naturally is less active for a while. 

 This reason, no doubt, helps to explain why, in thirteen of the 

 past twenty years, rubber prices have shown a decline at the 

 close of the year, in most cases to be followed by a speedy rise. 

 There is no fixed rule about this, of course, but the fact seems 

 worth mentioning in view of the lower quotations at this 

 moment than in our report a month ago. That is to say, the 

 latest decline need not necessarily be regarded as a certain 

 step to a lower level than has prevailed for the past three or 

 four months. The rubber footwear industry has had a dis- 

 couraging factor, it is true, in the unseasonable weather thus 

 far, and most of the mills in this branch have had a longer 

 holiday shutdown than in normal years, though the condition is 

 better than at this time last year. In the tire branch, production 

 has been active all season, and good reports come to hand from 

 many important rubber mills in other lines. 



Following are the quotations at New York for Para grades 

 one year ago, one month ago, and December 30, the current date : 



Para. Jan. i, '08. Dec. i, 08. Dec. 30. 



Islands, fine, new 76@77 Ii4@ii5 113(0)114 



Islands, fine, old none here none here none here 



Upriver, fine, new 82(0)83 I23@I24 121(^122 



Upriver, fine, old 84(0)85 127^0128 I24@i25 



Islands, coarse, new 50(??5i (5oi?? 6r SS@ S6 



Islands, coarse, old none here none here none here 



Upriver, coarse, new 65(0)66 92(0)93 92@ 93 



Upriver, coarse, old none here none here none here 



Cameta none here 63(^64 6i@ 62 



Caucho (Peruvian), sheet.. 56@S7 



Caucho (Peruvian), ball.. 6s(5;66 



Ceylon (Plantation), fine 



sheet 95(^96 



74@ 75 

 go@ 91 



71(5' 72 

 83(a' 84 



I29@i30 I29(gi30 



African. 



Sierre Leone, ist quality.94(o'g5 Lopori ball, prime II2@II3 



Massai, red 94@9S Lopori strip, prime. . . . S6@ 87 



Benguella 62(^63 Madagascar, pinky. . . . 83(0) 84 



Accra, flake 2i(@22 Ikelemba none here 



Cameroon ball (32@63 Soudan niggers 85® 86 



Centrals. 



Esmeralda, sausage 8i@82 Mexican, scrap 8o@8l 



Guayaquil, strip 69(0)70 Mexican, slab 58(o'6o 



Nicaragua, scrap 8i@82 Mangabeira, sheet 56(0)57 



Panama 6o(g6l Guayule 30(0)33 



East Indian. 



Assam 92(g93 Borneo 35@45 



Late Para cables quote : Per Kilo. 



Per Kilo. Upriver, fine 6$300 



Islands, fine 5$30O Upriver, coarse 4$300 



Islands, coarse 2$300 Exchange ^5'Ad. 



Latest Manaos advices : 



Upriver, fine 6$8oo Exchange i57-32d. 



Upriver, coarse 



Rubber Scrap Prices. 



Late New York quotations — prices paid by consumers for car- 

 load lot, per pound — show a slight decline as compared with last 

 month : 



Old rubber boots and shoes — domestic 9'A@ 9^ 



Old rubber boots and shoes — foreign 9 @ 9% 



Pneumatic bicycle tires 6 @ 6^ 



Automobile tires 6 @ 6J4 



Solid rubber wagon and carriage tires 7 @8 



White trimmed rubber I0^(gll 



Heavy black rubber 5.'4@ SJ^ 



,\ir brake hose 3H@ 4 



Garden hose 2 (® 2j4 



Fire and large hose 2J4@ 3 



Matting iH@ ^H 



