854 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



August 1, 1921 



MISCELLANEOUS FOREIGN NEWS 

 INCREASE OF MOTOR TIRES IN NEW ZEAl-AND 



ACXroRDiXG to Coiiniicrcc Rcforts there has been a marked in- 

 crease in New Zealand's imports of motor vehicles during the 

 year 1920. A growing demand for trucks was noted while the 

 large number of cars used will necessitate an increased supply of 

 tires and spare parts. The gain in the items referred to is indi- 

 cated below : 



1919 



Cars £976,135 



Trucks 148,953 



Tires 860,048 



Spares 118,724 



1920 



£2,435,303 



485,870 



1,803,959 



240,997 



Total .- 2.103.860 4.966,129 



THE TIRE INDUSTRY IN THE ORIEINT 

 It is interesting to note that statistics show a steady and re- 

 markable increase in the value of United States exports to the 

 Orient during the years 1918-1920. These same statistics show 

 also a decline during the first months of 1921, indicative of busi- 

 ness conditions everywhere for that period. In the table follow- 

 ing, one division only, the Ihitch East Indies, shows an increase 

 in the volume of exports for the first three months of 1921 : 



1921 



Rubber Tires 1918 1919 1920 January J-ebruary March 



China $71,558 $254,784 $421,364 $27,005 $13,939 



Japan 118,685 422,432 491,246 20,218 5,496 



India 294,619 557,396 1,096,377 60,554 51,713 $36,387 



Philippines 982,224 1,372,544 2,431,252 130,551 99,313 35,282 



Dutch East Indies. 519,535 6S6,S73 1,712,524 37,966 80,136 54,037 



THE CHINESE RUBBER GOODS MARKET 



There are no factories within the Shanghai consular district en- 

 gaged in the manufacture of rubber goods of any kind. Less than 

 40 tons of india rubber and gutta-percha were imported into all 

 China during the year 1919, which exceeds the imports for all 

 previous years. This indicates little if any manufacturing of rub- 

 ber goods throughout China. Xo scrap, waste or reclaimed rubber 

 is imported into China, though small amounts of waste and old 

 rubber are exported through the port of Shanghai. 



Imports of india rubber and gutta percha and manufactured 

 articles, including boots and shoes, for all China for the years 

 1913, 1918 and 1919 were : 



Imported from — 1913 



Canada 



France $22,129 



Germany 19,868 



Great Britain 43,160 



Hongkong 18,152 



Japan (including Formosa) 26,739 



Philippine Islands .... 



Russia and Siberia 165,328 



Singapore, Straits Settlements, etc 188 



United States 12,143 



All others 2,223 



Gross imports $309,930 



Reexported to foreign countries.... 42,599 



Net import $267,331 $877,868 $1,985,768 



There are approximately 3,500 passenger automobiles in 

 Shanghai, from seventy to eighty per cent of which are four to 

 five-passenger cars. About 75 per cent of the 150 motor trucks 

 used in the .Shanghai consular district are equipped with solid 

 tires, though there is a decided tendency to replace these with 

 the pneumatic truck tire. 



Estimating conservatively there are 25,000 rickshaws in Shang- 

 hai alone, all of which use pneumatic tires, principally the double 

 (outer and inner tube) tire, size 36 by 2 inches, or 900 by SO 

 centimeters (cer.timetcr;=0.393-inch). A very large proportion of 

 these are Dunlop tires, manufactured in Japan, and sold at a price 

 much less than American-made tires are being sold for in 

 Shanghai. There are also in use in Shanghai about 2,000 carriages 

 known as Victorias, all of which are supplied with rubber tires. 



It is said that cord tires are more in demand than are the fabric 

 types. All cords are straight-side, whereas the fabric type em- 

 braces both straight-side and clincher type. The standard metric 

 and standard inch sizes arc used here as in the United States. 



The greater proportion of tires used on autoinobiles in Shanghai 

 are of American manufacture, the foreign firms competing being, 

 but two in number, one English and one French. Owing to un- 

 favorable climatic conditions for the preservation of rubber goods, 

 the system of consigned stocks of tires is impracticable. 



The total value of the net imports of automobile tires for 1919 

 was over ten times as great as in 1913 and nearly fifty times as 

 great as in 1918 in the Shanghai consular district. The reexports 

 from Shanghai to other Chinese ports in 1918 decreased materially 

 the net imports. This indicated the development of the tire market 

 in this district. There are numerous service stations and garages 

 in Shanghai where tire changes, adjustments, etc., are performed 

 as skilfully as in the United States. 



The market for rubber boots and shoes is limited, though in 

 1919 there were approximately 14 times as many imported as in 

 1918. Because foreign-made shoes find a very small market with 

 the Chinese natives, their shoes being made by local shoemakers, 

 foreign-made rubbers will not fit, and galoshes and rubber boots 

 are not popular. An American importing firm in Foochow imported 

 4,000 pairs of rubber soles from a Chinese rubber firm in Singa- 

 pore. These were sold immediately, as was a second large order, 

 and the local native dealers impatiently awaited the arrival of a 

 third shipment. 



Factories are steadily increasing in China, which will in turn in- 

 crease the market for belting, packing, hose, etc., which today 

 have a fairly ready market. 



Rubber clothing, while popular with the foreign population, is 

 not used by the natives to any great extent. There would appear 

 to be a much better market for rubberized fabric from which 

 garments of Chinese patterns could be made. 



The market for druggists' rubber sundries, such as rubber 

 gloves, hot-water bottles, hard-rubber goods, etc., is excellent. 

 Goods are distributed through agents and through the aid of 

 catalogs, printed in English and Chinese, with illustrations. One 

 firm stated that their business in such goods had doubled since 

 May, 1920, and that it was difficult to get sufficient goods to supply 

 the demand from the native population. 



In general the basis of financial credits in the importation of 

 rubber goods is the same as other imported commodities. Terms 

 of payment are purely matters between the parties to the trans- 

 action and dependent upon circumstances. The import duty upon 

 india rubber and india rubber goods is 5 per cent ad valorem, to 

 which duty is added a fee of 5 per cent of the duty charges for 

 wharfage and warehouse dues. 



TIRE NOTES FROM INDIA 



The roads of India may be put into three classes ; first, the 

 good metalled roads in and near towns ; second, the main coun- 

 try roads made of white hard clay watered and rolled and topped 

 with fine sand; and third, the cross-country roads which are 

 merely cart tracks used by bullock carts, and with frequent 

 ditches crossing them. The first and second classes are very 

 good for tires, causing but little wear and tear, while the third 

 class is used only in cases of dire necessity and at considerable 

 risk. A new system of oiling roads has lately come in and this 

 has led to the production of the oil-proof tire. 



During the war, the American tires made great headway in 

 India as in England, wide and judicious advertising having helped 

 the business. American cars were also largely imported and 

 this led to the Firestone, Fisk, Goodyear, Goodrich, and some 

 other .^merican tires getting well established. Since the cessa- 

 tion of hostilities, however, the British tire, especially the Dun- 

 lop, has been going ahead. Dunlop is selling millions of cycle 

 tires, a new phase of Indian native life being the using of cycles 

 on an extensive scale ; and only the best soft rubber tires are in 

 demand. 



Another innovation is the use up-country for agricultural pur- 

 poses of the light truck of 1 to I'i tons capacity with solid tires. 

 In Bombay the 5-ton truck is now competing successfully with 



