50 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 1919. 



A DANISH CABLE FACTORY. 



F.arly in the war Denmark decided to make its own cables 

 and the .1. S. Den DansL-c Kabetfabrik was formed in the fall 

 of 1916, exclusively with Danish capital. By the end of 1917 

 the buildings were ready at Fredericksholm Haven, Copenhagen, 

 and work was begun in the wire-drawing mills. However, 

 machinery ordered in America was held back, so Danish engi- 

 neers were employed to e.xercise their ingenuity in constructing 

 the necessary machinery, which is said to be satisfactory. 



RUBBER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 



Official statistics show Danish rubljer imports and exports for 

 the following years to be : 







1913. 



Crude Pounds 253.660 



Manufactured 2.227,720 



1913. 



1917. 1918. 



289.280 22.980 



,107.920 135,080 168,960 



1917. 



1918. 



AKRON TIRES IN AUSTRALIA. 



Charles Duval, manager of tire sales for The B. F. Goodrich 

 Co. in Australia, states that 65 per cent of the tires used on 

 automobiles in that continent come from Akron factories, and 

 believes that the market for American tires and rubber goods 

 will materially increase in Australia in a few years. Motoring 

 is much more expensive there than in America, gasoline averag- 

 ing 85 cents per gallon and automobiles costing approximately 

 twice as much as in the United States. 



COOPERATION OF JAPANESE RUBBER COMPANIES. 



A furthft development of Japan's increasing rubber trade is 

 looked for through a combination of large and small rubber 

 factories in and near Tokyo that is said to portend amalgama- 

 tion at an early date so as to put the Japanese rubber manu- 

 facturing industry on a tirm foundation. This was brought 

 about by the receipt of large orders for rubber tubing and 

 sheeting from the new Siberian Government that the Okura- 

 gumi has distributed among the Mitado, Toyo, Nippon and 

 Meiji companies, regarded as having the best rubber works 

 aside from foreign enterprises in Japan. This form of co- 

 operation, involving the exchange of orders and stocks, has 

 been decided upon to secure efficiency and economy, and to 

 avoid unnecessary competition among local firms. 



ANALYSIS OF ITALIAN RUBBER TRADE. 



Italy's trade in rubber and rubber manufactures in 1913 

 amounted to $11,543,217 in imports and to $9,861,147 in exports. 

 Of the former amount, imports of crude rubber accounted for 

 $4,940,549 and of tires for $4,393,742. Tires were the largest 

 item of e.-^ports, being valued at $7,927,379. The imports in 1917 

 were valued at $17,523,941, raw rubber accounting for $13,008,046, 

 and tires for $2,130,257. Exports for that year were valued at 

 $6,541,938, tires, the chief item, amounting to $4,829,323, and 

 raw rubber to $299,787. In 1918 the value of the imports in- 

 creased to $19,805,933— raw rubber being valued at $16,019,097, 

 and tires ai $1,050,885— and the exports decreased to $3,150,291— 

 tires being valued at $2,090,248. 



The Italian trade in rubber, gutta percha, and manufactures 

 thereof is very small, the noimal consumption within the coun- 

 try being about 2,000 tons per year outside of imported rubber 

 overshoes. Practically all the raw material brought in is used 

 by one company whose name is almost synonymous with rubber 

 tires. Several other firms, however, manufacture rubber goods. 

 Exports of tires have exceeded imports for some years, being, in 

 1913, 3,012 tons; in 1914, 4,114 tons; in 1915. 4,361 tons; in 1916, 

 3,778 tons; in 1917, 2,117 tons; and in 1918, 916 tons. Of the 

 1913 exports, which can be taken as representing normal con- 



ditions, S,^8 u.ns went to Helgium, 587 to Switzerland, 403 to 

 Great Brilain, 352 to Germany, 270 to .\ustria-Hungary, 134 lo 

 .\rgentina, 97 to France, and 64 tons to Australia. The largest 

 customers for Italian rubber goods outside of tires, particularly 

 for small tubes and elastic, were Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and 

 Uruguay, which, wiiji other Latin American countries, probably 

 took two-thirds of all exports. Most owners of good auto- 

 mobiles prefer imported tires, which they consider superior to 

 those of Italian manufacture. The market is not, however, ex- 

 tensive, as the number of cars is small. 



The importation of rubber overshoes, which particularly in- 

 terests .American manufactures, who have had control of this 

 market for many years, shows a decided tendency to decrease. 

 Imports in 1908 amounted to 135,856 pairs; in 1909, to 159,168; 

 in 1910 to 173,747; in 1911, to 201,824; in 1912, to 121,565; and 

 in 1913, to 43,588 pairs. The present fashion of women wearing 

 high-heeled slippers or low shoes for street wear in winter 

 makes the use of rubber over.shoes, except sandals, impracticable. 

 Efforts should be made to encourage the trade in an overshoe 

 designed for such wear. — ("Commerce Reports.") 



NEW PIRELLI MANAGERS. 



Pirelli & Co.. of Milan, Italy, announce that the following 

 have been added to the personn.-l o'' the board of ma'iagement, 

 any two of whom together may sign for the firm : Fcdcrico 

 -Artom, Rizzieri Campiglio, Luigi Crosio, Dr. Mario Lubhatto 

 and Guiseppe Venosta. These are in addition to Roberto 

 Comelli, Carlo Fratino, Fabio Palandre and Lorenzo Ramelli, 

 who were alrcadv on ilie board. 



RUBBER GOODS REQUIRED BY ITALY. 



Among the various goods required by Italian merchants who 

 desire to sell on a commission basis are crude rubber, rubber 

 shoes, rubber heels, fountain pens, etc. 



American manufacturers who contemplate entering the Italian 

 market should send samples either to a forwarding agent or to 

 tlie American Chamber of Commerce in Milan. If notified 

 where samples may be inspected, this consulate will gladly 

 forward such information to interested parties in its district 

 (Lombardy). 



Other suggestions are: (1) Catalogs and correspondence 

 should be in Italian or French. (2) When possible, price should 

 be quoted c. i. f. Genoa, in Italian lire and metric measure- 

 ments. (3) When quotations are f. o. b. American ports, 

 there should be added the exact freight rate to Italian ports, in 

 order that the prospective purchaser may know how much the 

 goods will cost him delivered in Italy. 



RUBBER EXPORTS FROM THE NETHERLANDS. 



The l-c-ccmgina voor dm Ruhbcrhandcl (Society for the 

 Rubber Trade) at Rotterdam, Holland, has forwarded a des- 

 patch to the Minister of Agricullure, Industry and Commerce, 

 urging the removal of the export prohibition on crude rubber. 

 Now that imports are free and there are no difficulties in ob- 

 taining crude rubber, it is in the interest of the plantation com- 

 panies, and also for the restoration of the staple market, that 

 rubber export? should be free. 



AMERICAN VESSELS CARRYING CRUDE RUBBER TO THE 

 EAST INDIES. 



The interest now being manifested in the development of 

 the trade between .America and Java is shown by the fact that 

 two large American cargo vessels recently sailed from Soera- 

 baya on the same day, after discharging general cargo from 

 .America. One of these vessels is carrying direct to New York 

 via tlie Suez Canal a full cargo, including crude rubber from 

 Soerabaya, Samarang and Batavia. 



