424 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September i, 1909. 



large, considering the risks involved. The concessionaires must 

 at times have envied their neighbors ni the Congo Free State. 

 where close relations existed vvitli the government of a strenuous 

 king-sovereign. 



LOWER DIVIDENDS OF A DUTCH COMPANY. 



At the last annual meotnig of \ii-u\ve .\frikaansche Handels 

 Vennootschap (Rotterdam, July 8), accounts were presented 

 which permit the following comparative figures to be given. The 

 company is the oldest trading on the Congo, having established 

 a branch at Boma before the Belgians became established there. 

 Lately the company have held 340 of the 2010 shares in the 

 Cie. du Kasai (Kasai syndicate). Rubber has figured largely in 

 the operations of the company. The dividends derived from 

 the Kasai holdings which form only part of the company's profits, 

 have been (for fiscal years ending October 31 ) : 



1906 286,882.00 florins [=$i 15,326.56] 



1907 121,992.45 florins [= 49.040.96] 



190? 67,446.64 florins [= 27.113.55] 



The yearly dividends declared by the N. A. H. V. and the rate 

 were as follows : 



1906 358,45.?.50 florins ( 17 per cent.) 



1907 168,684.00 florins ( 8 per cent.) 



1908 105,427.50 florins ( 5 per cent.) 



The N. A. H. V. have been interested in the Cie. Bru.xelloise 

 poir Commerce du Haut-Congo to the extent of 200,000 francs, 

 but this connection is to cease, the capital of the latter now to be 

 reduced from 7.000.000 to 800,000 francs. The Bruxelloise com- 

 pany have worked for some time at a loss, the profit and loss 

 account being debited at the last annual meeting (Brussels, 

 June 30) at 219,075.06 francs. 



CAPITAL ATTRACTED TO THE FAR EAST, 



The declining output of rubber from the Belgian Congo (for- 

 merly the Congo Free State) continues to lead to developments 

 of interest pointing to the disposition cf Belgian capitalists to 

 seek investments in rubber in new directions. The average year- 

 ly receipts of Congo rubber at Antwerp for the ten years 1899 

 to 1908 inclusive were 4.5846 tons, the largest year being 1901 

 (5.4174 tons). During the fir.st si.x months of the present year 

 1,716 tons arrived, against 2,257.5 tons in the same period of 

 last year. 



The interest of the Belgian rubber trade in the planting in- 

 terest in the Far East has been noted already in The India 

 Rubber World, at various times. Mention has been made of 

 companies formed in Belgium to promote rubber planting in 

 Malaysia, in which an important part was taken by leading mem- 

 bers of the crude rubber trade in .\ntvverp, whose interest for- 

 merly was in the produce of the Congo Free State. 



The latest development in this field has been the organization 

 at .\ntwerp of the Societe Financicre des Caoutchoucs, with a 

 capital of 31,000 shares, the subscribers to which .-ire: 



SHARES. 



The Belgian Congo government i.ooo 



Eiinge K Co. (.\ntwerp) and other Bunge interests 6.noo 



Members of Grisar & Co. (.\ntwerp) ,,oui, 



Antweriv bankers 7,000 



Brussels hankers and merchants 2,000 



Paris bankers g^oo^ 



Geneva bankers 



Rotterdam bankers 



.Vmsterdam merchants 



Naples merchants 



German merchants 



Hon. Everard Fielding., London 



Bunge & Co., named above, are the largest consignees of rubber 

 at Antwerp, receiving all the rubber in which the Congo State 

 has an interest. Grisar & Co. are the ofiicial rubber brokers at 

 Antwerp. The subscribers to the shares of the new company in- 

 clude directors in these important rubber planting companies, 

 among others : 



Federated Malay .States Rubber Co.. Limited — Selangor. 

 Kuala 1-ampur Rubber Co., Limited — .Selangor. 

 ■\'cneenigde Ilevea Plantagen der Rila Landen — Sumntra. 



4,000 

 2.000 

 1,000 

 1,000 

 2.000 

 1,000 



The new Antwerp company has for its object investments in 

 rubber planting undertakings which may appear attractive, either 

 new enterprises or those already established which may need 

 additional capital for their further development. It is under- 

 stood that arrangements have been made for the cooperation of 

 the new Antwerp company with the new Eastern International 

 Rubber Produce Trust. Limited, recently brought out in London 

 with ^500.00 [=$2,433,250] capital. A dinner attended by mem- 

 bers of both companies was given at Antwerp on the evening 

 of July 12, in honor of Mr. Edouard Bunge, of Bunge & Co., to 

 welcome him as president of the Societe Financiere des 

 Caoutchoucs. 



INCREASE IN THE GUAYULE TRADE. 



"ly/ HILE no exact figures are available as to the exact amount 

 of guayule rubber produced or- sold, a fair idea can be 

 gained from the statistics of Mexican crude rubber generally. 

 Before the appearance of guayule in commercial quantities, the 

 exports of rubber from Mexico averaged less than 400.000 pounds 

 annually, and it is probable that they do not now exceed 500,000 

 pounds. It may be assumed, therefore, that the figures given 

 below, in excess of 500,000 pounds yearly relate to guayule : 



United St.xtes Imports of Mexican Rubber. 



Pounds. Value. Average. 



Year ended June 30, 1904 366,104 $148,921 40.7 cents. 



Year ended June 30. 1905 352,690 185,951 52.7 cents. 



Year ended Tune ,30. 1906 1.705.915 866.283 50.6 cents. 



Year ended June 30. 1907 7.175.097 2.877,022 40.1 cents. 



Year ended June 30. 1908 9,269,443 3.888,684 41.9 cents. 



Year ended June 30, 1909 iS,46o,3f)5 5.466,904 35.3 cents. 



MEXIC.^N Exports of Crude Rubber. 



[Official Returns for Years enlding June 30.] 



1906-07. 1907-08. 



To Germany pounds 2.016,230 2,067,872 



To Belgium' 33.21 1 196,084 



To Spain 35,389 46,266 



To United States 8,128,380 9.788,962 



To France 105,787 39.827 



To Great Britain 1,855 230,351 



To Canada 7^3 



To British Honduras 114 961 



To Panama S3S 



To Italy 282 



Total 10.321,248 12,372,241 



The exports for the last six months of the year 1908 are 

 officially reported at 6.121.863 pounds. 



Guayule Shrub. 

 The exportation of the guayule shrub, to be worked into rub- 

 ber elsewhere, is increasing at a rapid rate in spite of the 

 export duty imposed. The figures are : 



Fiscal year 1906-07 pounds 1,471,226 



Fiscal year 1907-08 2,844,325 



July-December, 1908 1,722,836 



During the first year under review the greater part of the 

 shrub exported was taken by the United States, to-day a third 

 or more goes to Germany. 



The Kommerzienrat Seligmann, of the Continental Caout- 

 chouc und Gutta-Percha Compagnie, of Hanover, cele- 

 rated recently the thirtieth anniversary of the day on which he 

 entered upon the ofHce of manager of the company. Herr Di- 

 rektor Seligmann was only 26 years of age when he was called 

 upon to take his place at the head of this manufacturing concern. 

 It would be idle to refer in detail to the importance of Mr. Sellg- 

 mann's work in behalf of the company he manages. His name 

 and achievements are known to all who are interested in the 

 rubber industry. Thirty years ago the company was still in its 

 infancy, while it is numbered at the present time among the 

 largest rrblier manufacturing concerns in the world. 



