94 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1903. 



IV — WITH A RUBBER MERCHANT. 

 " From the first of November until about the twentieth the 

 prices of spot Upriver Para declined on an average 10 cents 

 per pound. In the last week of the month there was a firming 

 up and higher prices prevailed, the advance being something 

 like 2 or 3 cents. Stocks in manufacturers' hands are light, 

 particularly in coarse Para. This has been brought about of 

 course by the high prices that have prevailed, and the activity 

 of the factories during the summer. Now the manufacturers 

 must buy, and within the past few days the inquiry for rubber 

 has been very active. This is the dull season for the factories 

 and for selling rubber, but the shortness of the stocks is stimu- 

 lating buying. Reports concerning the yield of rubber are very 

 conflicting, but I do not believe it will quite reach the average. 

 At present the supply of crude rubber in all markets is light, 

 and whatever lots are offered are taken up rapidly. There 

 seem to be just at the present time buyers for more rubber 

 than there is for sale. An' accident to a ship bearing a large 

 amount, or any delay in arrival, would make the demand very 

 acute." 



THE TEXTILE GOODS MARKET. 



DECEMBER finds many of the consumers of cotton duck 

 and sheetings still in a waiting attitude. It was a most 

 fortunate piece of foresightedness which the rubber trade dis- 

 played a year ago when they contracted for a much larger sup- 

 ply of duck than they could possibly use, for the material was 

 bought at 3 cents per pound less than it can be bought for 

 now, and many of the mills are still using these goods, instead 

 of having to come into the market and pay the higher price. 

 The cotton duck mills will be compelled to run on old con- 

 tracts until the middle of January before they are completed. 

 Meanwhile the rubber hose and belting manufacturers are con- 

 sidering their future requirements, and while some of them 

 have already made contracts for the next year, others are ne- 

 gotiating. All consumers of duck have been waiting for the 

 cotton market to assume a settled condition before they at- 

 tempted to provide for the future, but after deferring this mat- 

 ter two months they find themselves in no better position than 

 before. Engagements that have been made for the next sea- 

 son have been on a basis fully 3 cents per pound higher than 

 last year; that is, instead of paying \yy 2 cents pir pound for 

 duck, they are paying 2o'/i cents. But instead of cotton being 

 8 cents per pound as it was a year ago, it is now 11.30 cents. It 

 will therefore be seen that the duck mills are not getting a 

 parity price for their goods. The same conditions apply to the 

 market for sheetings used by the rubber trade. 



It is the general opinion that the rubber consumers of cotton 

 textiles will not defer their contracts longer, as it is pretty well 

 understood that the price of raw cotton will remain where it is 

 if it does not go higher during the next few months. One 

 thing certain is that the duck mills are buying cotton at its 

 current price. One seller in the local market informed The 

 India Rubber World representative that his house had paid 

 its mills during the present month §75,000 in excess of the 

 amount paid them last December, with which to meet the ad- 

 vanced price of cotton. The reactionary tendency in contract 

 cotton, amounting to a loss during the past week of 22(</ 32 

 points in New York, Liverpool, and New Orleans, has had but 

 little effect upon the spot cotton market. Following are the 

 prices of cotton middling upland spots at the ports of New 

 York, New Orleans, and Liverpool : 



New York. New Orleans. Liverpool. 



November 7 11,05 c. I0 T V, c. 5 .<)\J. 



November 14 11.50c. 11.00 c. 6.14a'. 



November 21 11.30 c. 10% c. 6.02a". 



November28 .11. 30c. io T § c. 6.04a'. 



Belting manufacturers have bought considerable duck dur- 

 ing the past month, and although prices have been a restricting 

 factor these concerns are coming forward more numerously, 

 and December will doubtless see the greater part of them cov- 

 ered with duck for the season. 



The felt mills have secured a fair amount of business from 

 the rubber boot makers, but higher prices have had the effect 

 to cause consumers to go slow, and confine their purchases to 

 actual necessities. The wool market is exceedingly strong, 

 with little in sight to encourage manufacturers to hope for 

 lower values this season. The seaboard dealers have paid high 

 prices for their wools and are evidently determined to hold 

 them until users come to their terms. 



As has been stated before in these pages, contracts with the 

 duck manufacturers are this year made on an entirely different 

 basis from those last year, in that the mills ask consumers to 

 stipulate more closely the amount of goods that are going to 

 take. In other words, the rubber people are not allowed so 

 much latitute as before. Canadian rubber manufacturers are 

 still running on the duck they bought a year ago, having at that 

 time bought unusually heavy in anticipation of higher prices as 

 a result of the threatened 25 per cent, duty on ducks entering 

 the Dominion. It is believed, however, that before the end of 

 the present year the greater part if not all of the rubber manu- 

 facturers both in the States and in Canada will have arranged 

 for their next year's supply. 



The rubber footwear trade have been taking good quantities 

 of sheeting during the past month, and the present week has 

 noted considerable interest. Prices have advanced about %z. 

 per yard during the month, and sellers are standing firmly on 

 these prices. 



PRICES CURRENT FOR SHEETINGS FOR THE RUBBER TRADE. 

 Pick. Yds. to Lb. 



36" Household Favorite, 56x60, 4.00 5 J^ cents. 



40" Household Favorite, 56x60, 360 6 cents. 



36" Henrietta, L. L., 48x52,400.. 5^ cents. 



39" Henrietta, 68x72, 4.75 (net) 5 cents. 



38^* Henrietta, 64x64, 5.15 4}^ cents. 



40" Henrietta, 48x40, 2.85 (part waste) 6)£ cents. 



3b" Florence C, 44x44, 6.15 4 cents. 



40" Majestic C. C, 48x4s, 2.50 7^ cents. 



40" Majestic B. B. B., do 2.70 7 cents. 



40* Majestic B. B., do 2.85 6% cents. 



40" Elcaney, do 3.60 $}( cents. 



36* India, do 300 6}^ cents. 



Sheetings. 40" Selkirk. . . . T^ic 40" Shamrock. .. 9 c. 



40" Highgate . . . 5?/c. 40' Sellew 7}4 C - Ducks. 



40' Hightown. ..6 c. 48" Mohawk. ...10 c. 40" 7 oz. Cran- 



40" Hobart 6j^c. 40" Marcus. .. 5^c. ford. ... 8^c. 



40" Kingstons. ..T%c. 40" Mallory 5 c. 40" 8oz. Chart- 



39" Stonyhurst.. .sj^c. 36" Capstans. . .4 c. res 8^c. 



39" Sorosis 5 c. Osnaburgs. 40" 100z.Carew.11 c. 



40" Seefeld 8 c. 40" Iroquois 9 c. 40" 11 oz.Carita. 12 c. 



The second edition of Catalogue No. 115, the condensed 

 general catalogue of the B. F. Sturtevant Co. (Jamaica Plain, 

 Massachusetts), has gone to press and will very soon be ready 

 for distribution. A few pages in this revised edition have been 

 devoted to Factory and Industrial Railway Equipments, a new 

 departure of this enterprising concern. The outgrowth of the 

 success attained in equipping their new plant at Hyde Park 

 was the manufacture of this new line of products. 



While the leading tire manufacturers expect to be well 

 represented at the large automobile shows in New York and 

 Chicago this winter, they will not make exhibits at the numer- 

 ous local shows that have been or may be organized. 



