686 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1914. 



THE MARKET FOR COMPOUNDING INGREDIENTS 

 AND CHEMICALS. 



THE general chemical market has been affected by the recent 

 dislocation more than the actual rubber market, and per- 

 haps more than any other large line of business. 



Fortunately towards the end of the month the hysteria has 

 quieted down, and it is seen that we may produce many things 

 we have been importing or use substitutes to a great extent. 

 Prices are thus tending to a steadier basis. 



SULPHUR. 



This most important substance for the rubber man we de- 

 scribed in our August issue at some length, showing that in the 

 last ten years America had succeeded in producing enough for 

 her entire supply instead of being dependent on Italy or Sicily 

 as heretofore. It is understood that there is in stock enough 

 to last the entire United States for about three years. The 

 prices, therefore, will not rise. But other industries, such as the 

 paper industry and the acid industry, which have used Spanish 

 pyrites, may be forced to use home-produced sulphur, when the 

 consumption will greatly increase. 



Brimstone is quoted at $22.50 per long ton, while roll sulphur 

 is quoted at $1.85 per hundred pounds, with flour and flowers at 

 $2 to $2.40. 



ZINX OXIDE AND LITHOPONE. 



While the United States makes a large quantity of these arti- 

 cles, yet much has been imported. Liege is about the center of 

 the Belgian zinc industry, which extends down into Luxemburg, 

 so that imports will not amount to much in the near future. 

 The United States exported 3,100,835 pounds in June, worth 

 $130,459. 



Present quotations for zinc oxide are : 5'5^c. for American 

 process, 6.5c. for French process red seal, 7c. for green seal, and 

 7.Sc. for white seal. No quotations are available on French and 

 German zincs. 



There is no settled quotation on the market for foreign grades 

 of lithopone. Inquiry has been increased for domestic by the 

 present state of the foreign market. It has been stated that there 

 is considerable difference in quality between the products of 

 different domestic makers, and buyers are careful about the 

 quality. Prices are quoted at 3.75 to 4.25c. per pound. 



LEAD COMPOUNDS. 



Fortunately the United States produces much more lead and 

 its compounds than it consumes, and importations are confined 

 to special grades, believed by some to be better than the domestic 

 products. 



Litharge is quoted in a large way at 5.25c. per pound, and 

 smaller quantities are somewhat higher. Red lead is quoted at 

 5.75 to 6.5c. per pound, and orange mineral is quoted at 8.5c. per 

 pound, while the Old Dutch process white lead sells at 5.25c. 

 per pound and the sublimed lead (basic sulphate) at the same 

 figure. 



EARTHY FILLERS. 



Magnesia. — Most of the magnesia used in the United States 

 has been imported from the neighborhood of the Balkans, and 

 while calcined magnesite, with 90 per cent, of pure magnesia 

 content, has been sold at $30 per ton, the higher grades have 

 sold as high as 10c. per pound. With the foreign supply shut off 

 prices will be subject to violent fluctuations. There are immense 

 deposits on the Pacific Coast which will be available with the 

 opening of the canal, and American manufacturers are rushing 

 up works to produce this article. 



Chalk — This is a product we have been importing, and. with 

 the shutting off of supplies, prices will he erratic until importa- 

 tions from England, which are promised, again begin. There is 

 no .^merican chalk which can compete with the English. 



China Clay. — It is reported that boats are loading for ship- 



ment from England. In the meantime the American product 

 can be had at $9 per ton. 



Barytes. — Imported grades are nominal. The United States 

 has immense deposits in Missouri and elsewhere, and it is only 

 a matter of freight to get them to market. Good grades of 

 domestic are quoted at $17 to $20 for floated f. o. b. works. 



Whiting. — The uncertain position of chalk makes an uncertain 

 market for this product, but manufacturers are said to be stocked 

 with a supply for the next six months. Blanc fixe is quoted at 

 4c. per pound in 600-pound barrels. 



SOLVENTS. 



Sulphur Chloride. — While this is not in the usual sense a rub- 

 ber solvent, yet it is a liquid used with other solvents. As it is 

 a kind of by-product and made in the United States, its price 

 may continue stable. 



Naphthas. — The rubber trade has seen the price of petroleum 

 naphthas steadily rise for a long time and the quality gradually 

 grow worse. This was due to the enormous demand for motor 

 gasoline, which has increased so astonishingly. Several months 

 ago, however, there began a recession of prices on all light 

 petroleum products ow'ing to the discovery of enormous quanti- 

 ties of oil in the Gushing pool in Oklahoma, which in some cases 

 gave 35 per cent, gasoline. The present disturbance has pre- 

 vented exportation, and therefore will tend to depress prices still 

 further. At present automobile gasolene is sold on a basis of 

 13c. in New York, and other light products in proportion. 



Now is the time for the rubber industry to insist on again 

 getting a suitable naphtha, such as was furnished, say ten years 

 ago, and which can now be made in almost unlimited quantities. 



Benzol and coal-tar naphthas are advancing in price, owing 

 to their use in making the aniline dyes formerly imported. 



Carbon bi-sulphide is excited and has risen to 15c., though al- 

 most the entire consumption is produced in domestic plants. 

 Carbon tetra-chloride has jumped from 6.5c. to 10c. in car lots, 

 and any price may be asked or given — 18c. has been quoted. 



Lamp-black. — The foreign grades are of course out of sight 

 and will soon be out of mind. Domestic gas carbon black may 

 be had at 3c. to 6c. per pound. 



Waxes. — Beeswax is quoted at 40c.. and as we import a con- 

 siderable quantity it may advance. White ozocerite is quoted at 

 25c. and is an article imported from .Austria. Paraffine wax, 

 on the other hand, is a domestic article, and the best grade of 

 135 m. p. is quoted at 6.5c. per pound. 



Of course these prices are only for the minute and may vary 

 widely from day to day till a final readjustment is accomplished. 



SITUATION OF PLANTATION COMPANIES. 



Advances on shipping documents are the pivot on which the 

 trade of the Far East turns. Hence the refusal of the banks to 

 make the usual advances has been severely felt by the planta- 

 tion companies. The necessity of some action has been urged 

 if the labor force on the estates is to be kept in shape. 



Suggestions have been made of the banks making advances 

 within definite limits ; guaranteed in each case by the colonial 

 government affected. A scheme of this character should, it has 

 been added, include Sumatra and Java, as well as the Federated 

 Malay States, Straits Settlements, South India, Borneo and 

 Ceylon. 



The European staffs of various plantation companies have been 

 requested for the present to confine their salary drawings to 

 urgent requirements. 



The Kepong (Malay) Rubber Estates. Limited, has cancelled 

 the resolutions for the payment of an i)itcriin dividend on Julj 

 15. It has been decided to follow this course as a precautionary 

 measure, with a view to increasing the cash resources of the 

 company. Similar action has been taken by the Anglo-Malay 

 Rubber Co., Ltd. 



