May 1, igog.) 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



27; 



CEYLON RUBBER SALE CONTRACTS. 



LATER details are available in regard to the Ceylon rubber 

 crop contracts mentioned in The India Rubber Worlu, 

 April I, 1909 (page 268.) Up to date 18 Ceylon companies are 

 mentioned as having contracted for the delivery of their 1909 

 product (other than scrap) to local merchants, at a fixed price. 

 With one exception this price is 3.70 rupees [=:$!. 20 gold) per 

 pound, and the rate named for the remaining company is 3.10 

 rupees [=:$i]. Since the public announcement of these con- 

 tracts rubber has changed hands at Colombo at 3.80 rupees 

 [=$l.23'4] for biscuits and sheet, with 3.85 rupees quoted for 

 tine white crepe. The companies mentioned as having sold 

 rubber under the new system are local or "rupee" companies, as 

 distinguished from the companies capitalized in sterling money 

 and registered in London and Edinburgh. The English com- 

 panies not unnaturally ship their product to London, and the 

 few planting companies in the Far East financed in Belgium are 

 shipping to the .\ntwerp market. 



The local Ceylon companies have been financed to a certain 

 extent by the leading commercial houses of Colombo, and are 

 under no obligation to send their rubber to the markets here 

 mentioned. We quote from the Ceylon Observer: "It is inter- 

 esting to learn that nearly all these contract purchases of 1909 

 crops in Colombo have been made by one firm on behalf of thj 

 American market. Rumor speaks of a coming expenditure of 

 £4,000 sterling [::=$I9.466] weekly in these purchases for New 

 York. In any case a lirm market throughout the year — and 

 appreciahly- rising — is the obvious expectation on the part of big 

 manufacturers in the United States." 



Color is lent to the Ceylon Observer's report by the arrivals at 

 New York of plantation rubber direct from Ceylon, all of which, 

 to date, has been received by a single firm, the total amount 

 for the first three months of the year, according to the statistics 

 of arrivals printed in The India Rubber World, reaching over 

 100,000 pounds. The total arrivals at New York of plantation 

 "Para." for this period, according to the same tables, including 

 shipments via London, reached 404,000 pounds, of which 93 per 

 cent, was consigned to three firms. 



The following companies and estates are mentioned as havin.g 

 sold their rubber under contract this year, the figures indicating 

 the estimated production of the required grades. For the most 

 part these companies are not yet large producers, but they have 

 planted extensively and have in prospect a constantly increasing 

 product: 



*Seremban Estate Rubber Co., Limited pounds 120,000 



>'ogan Tea Co. of Ceylon, Limited 67,000 



Grand Central Ceylon Rubber Co., Limited 60.000 



Beverlac (Selangor) Rubber Co., Limited 50.000 



*Pendamaran Estate 45,000 



Pallagodda Estate [Kalutara Co., Limited] 30,000 



*Blackwatcr Estate ( Klang) Rubber Co.. Limited 20.000 



*Rihu Rubber Co., Limited 20.000 



*Neboda Tea Co. of Ceylon, Limited 17.000 



Clyde Tea Estates Co., Limited 15.000 



Perth Estate [Ceylon Tea and Cocoanut Estates Co., 



Limited] 12,000 



Hanwella Tea and Rubber Co., Limited 10.000 



The I^inka Rubber Co., Limited 10,000 



Rayigam Co., Limited 9,000 



Yatiyantota Ceylon Tea Co., Limited 8,000 



Panawatte Tea and Rubber Estates. Limited 6.000 



The Kelani Tea Garden Co., Limited 6,000 



*Kempsey estate 4.000 



Total 509,000 



[*Ceylon companies with estates in Malaya.] 



.\i the half-yearly meeting of the Ceylon Chamber of Com- 

 merce (Colombo, February 26) the formal report that was pre- 

 sented gave the details of exports of plantation rubber for 1908 

 [see The India Rubber World, April i, 1909 — page 272] and 

 commented upon the genera! improvement in the quality of the 

 rubber exports, now that production is on a larger scale. The 



report says : "The best buyer on the local market has been the 

 United States, but foreign countries [Note that .'\merica is not 

 included in "foreign." — The Editor] and Australia are interest- 

 ing themselves in the product, though so far they have not been 

 in so favorable a position to compete with the former; they 

 should, however, in the future be strong competitors. Prices for 

 good biscuit and sheet rubber ranged during the si.x months from 

 2.80 rupees [=90.8 cents] to 3.90 rupees [=$1.26^] per pound, 

 and the lower grades rose proportionally, and all rubber offered 

 was eagerly taken up by local [Colombo] buyers." 

 * * * 



Mr. Alexander Bethune, the London correspondent of the 

 Times of Ceylon, writes to his paper : "A member of one of the 

 largest firms of American rubber dealers has been in London and 

 has been expressing himself in the most favorable terms as to the- 

 prospects of business in the United States. He says that hitherto- 

 the exports of Plantation have been so small that many Ameri- 

 can buyers have neglected the article, but that this is rapidly 

 changing, and he himself fully realizes that in time the export 

 will be as large as the present figures for Para." 



A statement in a recent issue of The Indici-Rubber Journal was 

 to the eflfect that London rubber producing companies were being 

 systematically canvassed by a New York importing firm, with a 

 view to shipments being made to America direct from estates. 



PROPOSED PATENT LEGISLATION. 



■XV/IDESPREAD interest is maintained in the operations and 

 *' effects of the new British patent law, which went into 

 eft'ect in igo8. One of its provisions was designed to confine to 

 British territory the manufacture of articles patented in that 

 country, no matter what the residence of the patentee. Retalia- 

 tory measures have been proposed in several other countries [see 

 The India Rubber World, March i, 1909 — page 201] including 

 the United States. The latest proposed action of this kind 

 forms part of what is known as the Payne bill — "to provide 

 revenue, equalize duties, and encourage the industries of the 

 United States, and for other purposes" — now pending before the 

 congress at Washington. One section in this bill follows: 



Sec. 41. That whenever a patent is issued by the United States to gny 

 citizen or subject of a foreifin country it shall be subject with respect to 

 manufacture thereunder in this counlry to all llie limitations, conditions, 

 and restrictions that are imposed by tlic country of said citizen or subject 

 upon the manufacture in that country under patents issued therein to citi- 

 zens of the United States. 



It does not appear as yet that Great Britain has realized any 

 .•idvantage from her new patent law in the matter of transferring 

 to that country any important industry previously established 

 elsewhere. Nor have any notable patents been revoked by reason 

 of non-compliance with the new requirements. There is a 

 liberal time limit, however, as to the establishment in England 

 of works for the manufacture of foreign inventions patented 

 there, and after all some discretion is permitted to the comp- 

 troller general as to the revocation of any particular patent. 



Whatever may be true of other fields of invention, it is 

 noticable that fewer patent^ relating to the rubber industry have 

 been granted by Great Britain to American inventors during the 

 past year than during some years preceding, although American 

 inventors have been as active as usual in applying for patents 

 at home in respect of rubber and its applications. 



The directors of Galvez Rubber Estates, Limited [see The 

 In)iia Rubber World, .August i, 1907 — pages 335], have issued a 

 report to March 31, 1908, stating that the principal work under- 

 taken during the period under review had been in the nature of 

 organization and development. In addition to the three estates 

 acquired originally, another small one has been purchased. It 

 is stated that up to October 31, 1908, 138,000 pounds of rubber 

 was gathered, of which 39,971 pounds had been sold at last 

 account, and the balance was being forwarded. 



