406 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



March 1. 1921 



Hou Crude Rubber Is Milled and Marketed in Mala^'a 



U> Richard Iloadley Tingley 



GoiXG SLiTii o:i lie railway from Penang through the Fed- 

 erated Ma ay States, cultivated nib'oer estates are prac- 

 tically continuous until the junction at Tampni in Negri 

 Semhilan i> reached. The line passes through mile after mile 

 of continuous hedge of plantation trees broken at intervals bj' 

 areas of jungle — some in the process of being cleared — and by 

 tin mining operations. For much of this district the p'antcd 

 area to the west extends to the sea, and to the east to the foot- 

 hills of the mountains which range, north and south, the entire 

 length of the peninsula. This area is approximately 200 miles 

 long by four or five miles wide and contains a total area of be 

 tween 600.000 and 700,000 acres. Continuing south to Johor 

 Bahru, a distance of 133 miles, the cultivation is somewhat more 

 scattered as seen from the railway. In the State of Johore, how- 

 ever, practically nothing but rubber is seen as one journeys south 

 to the straits that separate the mainland from the Island of 

 Singapore. It is this section that produces most of the Malayan 

 rubber of commerce. 



Rubber raised on the big British estates along this line conio^ 

 into the market thoroughly washed, cleaned and milled, pack-J 

 and ready for export to the consuming factory. The operation is 

 all done at the plantation, where every modern facility exists 

 for scientific preparation. Most of this product finds its way t-i 

 the big tire factories — some of it coming from plantat'ons owned 

 or controlled by them. But even the biggest of the tire and other 

 factories do not produce on their plantations as much rubber a> 

 they consume at home, and are constantly in the market at 

 Singapore, Penang and Kuala Lumpur for the product of the bi i 

 British and other estates that bring their rubber into the market 

 in a finished condition. 



The larger portion of the rubber coming from this section is 

 fully milled at the plantation and needs no further treatment oe 

 fore it reaches its factorv destination. It is of the other — tho 



Henderson Brothers, L.imited. Siti^(if'< re 



F.\CTORV K.NTRANCF. 



smaller portion — that I propose to write, which amounts to many 

 thousands of tons a year. 



THE UNMILLED RUBBER MARKET OF MALAYA 



This rubber is grown on the smaller British, Chinese and native 

 plantations which maintain no milling factories, a large part of 

 whose product, therefore, must be thoroughly treated before it 

 is marketable for export. There are many estates whose an- 



nual product is large enough so they might well afford to install 

 their own mill and thus obtain a price higher than can be had 

 for the unmilled product. Lack of working capital has deterred 

 many from doing so, particularly the smaller Chinese and native 

 planters. Others, too, are anxious to get rid of their rubber :.s 

 soon as made, thus realizing quick cash, and are content to accept 

 a reduction in price in consequence. 



.\i such plantations the ct agulated rubber is put through smooth 

 hand-rollers and the resultant is known as unsmoked sheets. 



Hcnderso 



rllicrs, Lirnitrd, Singaf>(rc 



Milling and Coxditioni.ng Rubber 



Many localities have their own special distinctive unsmoked sheets 

 — each differing from another in certain characteristics. Some are 

 more careful and thorough in the manner of treating the sheets; 

 some use adulterants of one kind or ai-.other, the most common 

 being jelutong and sago flour, both of which have a most harm- 

 ful effect on the rubber. It is thus that the trade has given dis- 

 tinctive names to the sheets coming from this district or that, 

 as Muar, Kuala Kangsa, Djambi, etc. (the latter coming from 

 Sumatra), which identifies them at once as to quality and serve;., 

 in a large measure, to fix their relative price in the market. 

 Large quantities of scrap and lump rubber also come into the 

 market at Singapore from the small plantations, which must be 

 milled before it is exportable. 



The arrival of large quantities of such rubber at Singapore 

 and Penang in this unusable condition has led to the establish- 

 ment of milling plants at these ports where the unmilled product 

 is washed, cleaned and made into the crepes of commerce. In 

 former times much of this rubber was shipped in what is now 

 considered an unexportable condition, in other words, in a partly 

 cured, dirty, barky state — to be milled upon its arrival at its des- 

 tination in the L'nited States or Europe. 



THE HANDICAP OF THE SMALL OPERATOR 



The desirability of a milling plant where the rubber offered 

 from the smaller plantations can be converted into an exportable 

 [iroduct. is obvious. In the first place, the small operator is barred 

 from buying from the big .\merican estates because they have 

 little for sale — their own requirements consuming most of their 

 output. The large British estates, also, cater to the big American 

 users who always have buyers at hand that take most of their 

 finished product. This constitutes the big market and represents 



