592 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[September 1, 1912. 



Of the imports from Great Britain, of $347,629 for the first 

 seven months of 1911, the amount of $124,242, or approximately 

 one-third, belonged to the month of July, it being thus shown 

 that the large imports of that month were in view of anticipated 

 requirements, provision for which was left till the last moment. 



In addition to being imported into Japan as "bicycle tires," 

 some of them are imported under the heading of "bicycles and 

 parts thereof." In this connection the following figures of bicycle 

 imports for 1911 will prove of interest; 



Pi JAPANESE BICYCLE IMPORTS, 1911. 



From Number. Value. 



Great Britain 19,704 $342,686 



United States 564 15,937 



Belgium 30 632 



Germany 18 1,283 



Japanese China 13 403 



France 2 217 



Switzerland 2 82 



Canada 1 IS 



Other countries 6 218 



Total 20.340 $361,473 



YAMATO RUBBER WORKS, 



This company was established in 1908 at Kameida, Tokyo, by 

 Ikumatso Ouchi, Its motive power is furnished by one 80 h. p. 

 boiler and one 18 h. p. engine, the products including mechanical 

 goods (with the exception of hose) and jinrikisha tires. 



DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE ELECTRICAL INDUSTRIES. 



The report of the British Commercial Attache at Yokohama 

 on the trade of Japan in 1911, confirms the statements which 

 have appeared as to the progress of the rubber industry in Japan. 

 Owing to the connections which exist between the owners of 

 copper mines and the insulated wire mills, either as owners or 

 furnishers of wire, the latter have more capital than is usually 

 the case with such concerns. The copper manufacturing firms 

 assist the mills by giving them credit on the wire supplied 

 to them. Manufacturers of insulated wire are thus in a much 

 more favorable position than those in the mechanical branch of 

 the industry. 



One of the principal difficulties affecting the mills is the lack 

 of experienced technical men. The manufacture of insulated 

 wire has already served to check the imports of European rub- 

 ber-covered wire. 



AN ENGLISH VIEW OF THE CRUDE RUBBER 

 SITUATION. 



'PN EALING, as it does, with the latest available figures, the re- 

 *-^ port of the Rubber Plantation Investment Trust shows the 

 present statistical position of the crude rubber market, as it ap- 

 pears to English eyes. According to the report in question, as 

 summarized, the following is a fair estimate of the rubber con- 

 sumption for 1903 : 



America 47,500 tons. 



Great Britain 15,000 " 



Germany 15,000 " 



France 10,000 " 



Russia 7,000 " 



Belgium 1,500 " 



Various countries 7,000 " 



Total 103,000 tons. 



Against this estimated consumption, the production for 1913 is 

 estimated at about 91,000 tons. 



The detailed figures composing this estimate are : 



South .America 39,000 tons. 



Plantation (at a very high rate) 28,500 " 



Africa 15,000 " 



Central .'\nierica 5,000 " 



Assam. Rangoon, Borneo, etc 2,500 " 



All other sources 1,000 " 



91,000 tons. 

 English Consumption. 

 In establishing the figures of a nation's net consumption of 

 rubber, the returns of imports must be diminished by the amount 

 of exports. The figures quoted for England in this connection 

 are instructive: 



United Kingdom Rubber Returns. 



Imports. E.xports. Net Consumption. 



Tons. Tons. Tons. 



1910 25,124 13,052 12,072 



1911 23,369 13,385 9,984 



1912 25,718 18,542 7,176 



1913 (Estimated) 15,000 



These figures indicate that English manufacturers are now 

 bare of stocks, having absorbed within the last few years a 

 constantly decreasing proportion of the imports. To make up 

 for this growing deficiency, an augmentation of consumption for 

 1913 has been estimated. 



.\meric.\n Consumption. 

 The most salient point in this estimate is the quantity of about 

 47,5(X) tons prospectively allotted to the United States, repre- 

 senting about 45 per cent, of the world's entire production. That 

 this is not an extravagant estimate is shown by the figures of 

 the recorded United States imports of rubber for the last three 

 fiscal years ending June 30: 



United St.\tes Rubber Imports. 



Pounds. Tons. 



Fiscal year, 1909-1910 101,044,681 50,500 



Fiscal year, 1910-1911 72,046,260 36,020 



Fiscal year, 1911-1912 110,210,173 55,105 



As the above figures are for the fiscal years ending June 30, 

 the figures for the calendar years immediately preceding are in- 

 structive for purposes of comparison : 



United States Rubber Imports. 



Pounds. Tons. 



Calendar year, 1909 93,967,414 46,984 



Calendar year, 1910 90,139,232 45,570 



Calendar year, 1911 82,921,465 41,460 



American imports for the fiscal year 1911-1912 are thus on an 

 unprecedented scale of importance, while according to the esti- 

 mate as "quoted above, the American consumption for 1913 is 

 placed at about 47,500 tons, against a recorded import of about 

 55,000 tons for the fiscal year, 1911-1912, ending June 30 last. 

 There is thus apparently no reason why this country should not 

 continue to take one-half of the world's production of rubber. 



RUBBER TRADE OUTLOOK. 



Commenting upon the recent estimate of 103,000 tons for 

 next year's rubber consumption of the world, as compared 

 with an estimated production of 91,(KX) tons, and the present 

 shortage in visible supply, a writer in the "City Press" of 

 London gives the following advice to English manufacturers : 

 "I am confident that the figures of production and consumption 

 justify a much higher price for rubber than is at present 

 ruling, and I think that if the English and continental manu- 

 facturers are not careful, the Americans are going to get them 

 short. They have had them short, as a rule, before, and they 

 will have them so again." 



