April 1, 19^1 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



539 



1918 1919 1920 



Brazil, Bolivia and Peru tons 34.350 34,200 28,160 



Including Peruvian and Caucho 8,40U 6,800 6.471 



Medium descriptions generally have again been very much 

 reduced, and except for supplies awaiting shipment at the ports 

 of producing countries, have practically ceased. Bolivia has sent 

 fine hard Fara, and caucho ball has come from the Amazon 

 tributaries, but almost nothing from MoUendo and very small 

 amounts from Matto Grosso. The quantities of Ceara and Mani- 

 <;oba were jjractically negligible. 



Central .American descriptions have almost ceased to appear 

 in the market. Guayulc imports into .\e\v York were 1,050 

 tons. 



The following table shows the annual receipts and shipments 

 at Para during the past three years : 



1918 1919 1920 



Kcceipts of Para tons 23,000 27,385 21,690 



Kfifiixs of caucho 8.60O 6,800 6,471 



.Shipments to Europe 6,035 11,308 10.761 



Shipments to the United States 19.350 27,275 18.262 



AFRICAN RUBBER 



The quantity of .\frican rubber on the market has decreased 

 considerably. West Coast African imports from all districts 

 have fallen off largely. Congo supplies are less, Antwerp im- 

 ports l)eing about 2,400 tons. There have been a few small 

 shipments froiti Madagascar and Mozambique, also some old 

 parcels of Manihot from East Africa which were difficult to 

 sell. 



EAST INDIAN RUBBER 



The .Asiatic districts of Rangoon and .Assam sent practically 

 nothing, and small shipments from Penang have been only partly 

 .sold. Java and Sumatra have sent practically no cultivated red 

 Ficus rubber, and no wild rubber has come from Borneo. 

 Balata imports have fallen off, especially block. Gutta percha 

 has been scarce. 



BRITISH STOCKS 



British stocks on December 31 were 56,499 tons of which 620 

 tons were Para or caucho and 55,879 tons were plantation 

 rubber. British imports of all sorts for the year were 103.095 

 tons, and deliveries 71,046 tons. Of these 7,285 tons imported 

 and 7.435 tons delivered were Para or caucho. During the 

 whole of the past j'ear British manufacturers have practically 

 been living on the 1919 stocks. 



DUTCH STOCKS 



Coinplete Dutch statistics for 1920 are not yet available. 

 Plantatio!! imports up to October 31 were 8,899 tons, and ex- 

 ports, 4,628 tons. Stocks of all descriptions totaled 4,918 tons. 

 Imports were rather lar.ger during the last two months of the 

 year and stocks December 31 were estimated at between 7,000 

 and 8.000 tons. 



AMERICAN IMPORTS 



Imports of all descriptions into the United States were esti- 

 mated by The Rubber .Association of America to total 234,663 

 tons in 1920 against 231.510 tons in 1919. Of the 1920 imports 

 196,972 tons were plantations; 18,391 tons Paras: 3,881 tons 

 Africans; 713 tons Centrals; 1,037 tons guayule; 86 tons Mani- 

 toba and Matto Grosso; 481 tons balata; 8,113 tons miscellaneous 

 gum. The official statistics of the United States show total 

 imports exclusive of rubber scrap, amounting to 590.464,159 

 pounds in 1920 against 565,931,299 pounds in 1919. 



WORLD'S RUBBER PRODUCTION 



Numerous attempts have been made to estimate the world's 

 prcxluction, distribution and consumption of crude rubber during 

 the past year with widely divergent results, owing to the 

 absence of entirely reliable or authoritative statistics and differ- 

 ences in methods of estimation. 



The world's production of crude rubber of all kinds for the 

 year 1920 is variously estimated by- authorities at 305,000 to 

 368,000 tons. Stocks in the East, England, America and afloat 

 were believed to have increased about 80,000 tons on January 1. 



1921, but there was much less afloat than at the same time last 

 year, a reliable estimate being 30.799 tons against 37,340 tons 

 the year previous. 



W. H. Rickinson & Son estimate production as follows: 



1918 1919 1920 



Plantation tons 200.950 '340,225 304,816 



Brazil 30,700 34.285 30,790 



Rest 9,929 7,350 8,125 



Totals tons 241,579 381,860 343,731 



•Including 55,000 tons from 1918. 



Symington & Sinclair estimate production thus : 



1919 1920 1921 



Estimated 



Malaya tons 180,000 190,000 130,000 



Ceylon and India 35,000 40,000 25,000 



Dutch East Indies 75,000 85,000 55,000 



Other Eastern Countries 10,000 15,000 10,000 



Total rianlations 300,000 330,000 220,000 



Brazil 32,000 31,000 20,000 



Wild 7,000 7,000 5,000 



Totals tons 339.000 368.000 245.000 



S. Figgis & Co. estimate total production at 305,000 tons, 

 255. .500 tons plantation, 28,160 tons Brazilian and the balance 

 wild rubber. 



DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMPTION 

 VV. H. Rickinson & Son estimate distribution as follows: 



1918 1919 1920 



America tans 142,772 236,977 235.000 



Great Britain 30,104 42,520 56,972 



Russia 2,000 1,500 300 



Germany and -Austria 1,000 4.000 9.300 



France 18,000 22,000 14,500 



Italy, etc 9,800 14.000 7.O0Q 



Scandinavia 5,000 7,000 7.700 



Japan and .\ustralia 7,400 12,000 6,000 



Canada 8.300 9.5O0 11,000 



Belgium .... 5,000 3,500 



Totals tons 224,376 354.497 351.272 



Symin,gton S: .Sinclair estimate consumption thus: 



1919 1920 1921 



Estimated 



L'uitert States tons 230.000 220,000 225,000 



United Kingdom 33.000 25,000 24,000 



France 22,000 14,000 12,000 



Italy 14,000 6,000 3,000 



Canada 9.500 11,000 12,000 



.\ustralia and Japan 10.000 9,000 9.000 



(.ermany, -Austria. Russia 5.500 9,000 9,000 



Scandinavia 3,500 6,000 6,000 



Belgium 2.000 2.000 2.000 



Other Countries 3.500 1,000 1,000 



Totals , tons 333,000 303,000 303,000 



With a few exceptions the crude rubber imports of consuming 

 countries may be taken as their consumption. British consumption 

 is readily ascertained by deducting exports and domestic de- 

 liveries from the sum of stocks and imports. Belgium and 

 Holland, in addition to their transit trade, have small markets 

 in Antwerp, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, where at present 

 moderate stocks are carried. Bordeaux, France, and Hamburg, 

 Germany, both important pre-war markets, have not yet recovered. 

 The real diflSculty in estimating consumption is the figure for 

 the United States, the largest consumer and hence the most 

 important. While .American imports for 1920 were 235.000 tons, 

 consumption probably did not exceed 220,000 tons. On this 

 assumption the world's 1920 consumption was about 303,000 tons, 

 and taking 368.000 tons as the production for the year, there 

 was an unconsumed surplus of production of 65,000 tons, ex- 

 clusive of any carry-over froin 1919. 



Symington & Sinclair estimate the total visible supply of crude 

 rubber at the end of 1920 at 207,000 tons. This is exclusive of 

 manufacturers' stocks which are known to be generally heavy. 

 They point out, however, the distinction that should be made 

 between a real surplus and the necessary visible supply to safe- 

 guard the industry, owing to the long voyage from producing 

 to consuming countries. On the basis of a world's consumption 

 of 300.000 tons per annum, a four months' supply means 100,000 

 tons. To this must be added some 35,000 tons for necessary 

 stocks in the New York and London markets and allowances 

 for normal shipments awaiting sailings at various producing 



