lie 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February 1. 1912. 



RUBBER BOOTS AND SHOES. 



Japanese imports, June, 1911 5,814 pairs $2,720 



Japanese imports, August, 1911 none. none 



New York shipments, August, 1911.2,632 pairs $1,669 



Shipments from New York in the above line for the eight 



months ending August 31 had been 47,100 pairs, value $35,252. 



Owing probably to the effects of the new Japanese tariff, it will 



be noticed that August shipments were only about half the 



monthly average for eight months of 1911. 



YOKOHAMA IMPORTS SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 1911. 



The Yokohama imports of crude rubber were in September, 

 1911, 125,828 pounds, value $99,791, and in October 57,539 pounds, 

 value $42,877. 



-■Xs to manufactures of rubber, the comparative imports of the 

 two months in question sliowed an increase in hard plate rubber 

 of United States manufacture from $165 to $4,363, while under 

 the head of rubber manufactures not otherwise specified, the 

 share of the United States rose from $972 to $1,410. 



In tlie quantities of insulated electric wire, there 

 seem to have been various changes in the sources 

 of supply, a-i follow s : 



September, October, 



1911, 1911, 



founds. founds. 



(ireai liritain 188.575 19,488 



Germany • • 1 .604 221 ,288 



Italy ■ 3.475 



United States 11,959 535 



lotal pounds 



205,613 



241.311 



Braiding Shop. 



meiji rubber w( rks. tokyo. 

 Since its establishment in 1900. this company has accumulated 

 a reserve of $50,000 beyond its capital of $25,000. Owing to the 

 technical director. Mr. .\. T. Ferguson, being an Englishman, the 

 machinery and business policy of the company is English in 

 character, while its relations with the Japanese government and 

 Other large consumers ensure it a steady and remunerative busi- 

 ness. Its motive installation represents 250 h. p. and it has a 

 staff of 220 male and female hands ; the annual production being 

 from $450,000 to $500,000, including mechanical goods, medical 

 appliances, mats, tires, balls, and a large variety of articles. 

 The average annual consumption of crude rubber is about 22,000 

 pounds, of which one half comes from South America, one 

 fourth from Africa and one fourth from Ceylon, Singapore and 

 Oceania. 



MITATSUCHI RUBBER MANUFACTURING CO.. TOKYO. 



Originally started on a small scale in December. 1884. this con- 

 cern is now perhaps the largest Japanese rubber company ; occu- 

 pying a space of 3.31 acres, of which the buildings cover 1.22 

 acres. The original capital of $40,000 has been supplemented by 

 the establishment of a reserve fund amounting to $222,230. The 

 motive installation represents 715 h. p.: the boiler and engines 

 being of the Lanarkshire type, and the electric motors having an 

 aggregate of 18 h. p. 



The working staff includes about 180 male and 196 female 

 hands, while the manufactures are very diverse in character, 

 comprising mechanical goods, tires (for bicycles, not for jin- 

 rikishas), overshoes, rubber belts, mats, ebonite, etc. In over- 

 shoes this is said to be the only factory in Japan, and it has 

 successfully met foreign competition in various other lines. Its 

 consumption of crude rubber in 1910 represented 196,800 pounds; 

 (about one-eighth of the total Japanese import), of which 192.- 

 (XK) came from Borneo, and the balance in equal quantities from 

 South America and .Africa. 



Germany would thus seem to be gaining a footing 

 in Japan in the branch named. 



Bicycle tires from Great Britain showed for 

 September a value of $16,375, and for October, 

 $26,799; while there wer* in the later month rib 

 receipts from the United States, as compared with 

 $1,308 in September. 



Rubber overshoes from the United States show 

 a decrease from $6,429 to $550, between September 

 and October. 



While these figures only refer to the port of 

 Yokohama, they are fairly representative of Japanese imports 

 generally. 



JAPANESE-MAL.WAN PLANTATION COMPANY. 



The Kyushu Rubber Co.. Limited, is being established at Mid- 

 zugae-Machi, Saga City, Sagaken, Japan, under the direction of 

 Mr. H. Nakamizo. Its object is to acquire the lease of 1,(XX) acres 

 in Johore, for the cultivation of rubber, planting 300 acres a 

 year. The capital amounts to $60,000, one-fourth of which is 

 to be called up at first. It is estimated that about $49,000 will 

 be devoted to the e.xpenses of plantation and cultivation during 

 the first five years. 



A GERMAN CRUDE RUBBER RETROSPECT OF 1911. 



r\ EALING with the prominent features which marked the 

 '-^ German rubber industry during 1911. the Gummi-Zeitung 

 remarks as to crude rubber, that manufacturers commenced the 

 year 1911 with stocks of dear raw material on which substantial 

 losses had to be written off. These losses in the German rubber 

 industry are estimated to have represented a total equalling about 

 $1,250,()00. 



The reduced quotations for rubber goods, permitted by the fall 

 in rubber, led to increased business and to the establishment of 

 new factories, competition being thus rendered keener. It was 

 regarded as a fortunate circumstance that the downward tend- 

 ency of crude rubber prices was interrupted by periods of re- 

 covery, the loss to manufacturers on their older stocks of rubber 

 being thus diminished. This feature of the market was accentu- 

 ated by the relatively higher prices of medium grades. 



An idea of the relative positions of crude rubber and manufac- 

 tured rubber goods is afforded by the fact that while in 1910 the 

 former advanced 70 to 80 per cent., the prices of the latter in 

 Germany went up only 30 per cent. 



