150 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1908. 



"The geographical location of our port with its important 

 system of regular navigation lines, insuring convenient and 

 economical transportation in exery direction throughout the 

 world, appears to make it readily available for development 

 into a general storage place for the sale of rubber in France. 

 The imports of Havre have been: 



1906. 1907. 



From the French Congo Kilos 314,025 892,678 



Other sources (except Para) 339.847 232,321 



From Para 3.738,055 3,339.847 



Total 4,391,927 4,464,123 



"Importers have adopted the subscription method to facilitate 

 the converting of their rubber into cash, a system which has 

 stood the test in other markets [notably at Antwerp], 



"Notwithstanding the comparatively large quantities imported 

 this year, the goods found a ready outlet at prices largely 

 equivalent to the parities of the regular markets. Only towards 

 the end of the year, when the holders refused to accept the 

 general decline, a certain quantity of rubber was withdrawn. 

 For this reason we have been left by the end of December with 

 an unsold stock of about 120 tons. 



"The quality of the rubber imported from the French Congo 

 is highly appreciated by the consumers, the product being homo- 

 geneous and generally of fine quality. 



"The quality of the rubber produced in the Gabon district 

 would be greatly improved if the different grades of which this 



kind of rubber is composed could be adequately separated in 

 Africa before shipping the goods, since the handling to which 

 they must be necessarily subjected here is very injurious to the 

 appearance of the product. 



"The rubber market during the past year has felt the effect 

 of the periods of financial crisis which have most seriously dis- 

 turbed certain lines of goods and branches of industry. 



•'Prices have consequently undergone violent fluctuations, more 

 especially during the second half of the year, at which time 

 the crisis appears to have reached its most acute point. The 

 highest and lowest quotations of Para rubber during the year 

 in question show, for instance, a total decline of about 35 per 

 cent. 



"The increase of the arrivals at Para is not so large that it 

 w'ould not find an outlet for consumption by the present rubber 

 industry, and the chief cause of the decline is closely connected 

 with the commercial and financial crisis through which we are 

 passing. However, the worst periods appear to be a thing of 

 the past and an early revival of business does not seem im- 

 possible." 



ToT.\L Imports of Rubber .\t Havije. 



Kilos. 



1898 2,138,000 



1899 1,856,000 



1900 2,350,000 



1901 2,241.000 



1902 1,948,000 



Kilos. 



1903 1,862,000 



1904 2,188,000 



1905 3,291,000 



1906 4.391.927 



1907 4.464.123 



The Manufacture of Balata Belting. 



By an English 



B-\LATA belting, which, for fifteen years was made solely 

 by Messrs. R. & J. Dick, at Glasgow, under their patent, 

 is now being made by several firms, the original patent 

 having expired. The manufacture has mostly been taken up as 

 a side branch by india-rubber works in England and Germany, 

 though in certainly two instances it forms the sole business of 

 the companies concerned. Although balata is not rubber, its 

 manufacture resembles that of the latter to the extent that in- 

 ferior material may be made to pass muster as the genuine 

 article when cheapening of the goods is resorted to in order 

 to meet competition. Already the cheapening process has made 

 such headway that ba'.ata belting is to be met with in which 

 the product of the Venezuelan or Guianan forests forms only 

 a fraction of the organic matter present. Tliis procedure, the 

 Initiation of which is ascribed rightly or wrongly by British 

 manufacturers to their German competitors, has naturally led 

 to a good deal of worry in business circles. 



Of course it may be an open question as to whether the use 

 of the best quality balata is really necessitated, and indeed there 

 i: plenty of evidence that the second quality belting openly sold 

 as such by British firms gives perfect satisfaction in its employ- 

 ment. Messrs. Dick, however, I believe I am right in saying, 

 only supply pure balata belting now as of j-ore, and despite the 

 new competition they continue to do a large business at prices 

 on a higher level than obtain with the rest of the trade. How 

 long this will go on remains to be seen; if it should turn out 

 that the cheaper belting of other makers is found to give satis- 

 factory results, one can hardly imagine that the supremacy of 

 the Glasgow firm will remain lUiafTected. In Free Trade England 

 the German makers of certain classes of rubber goods have been 

 accustomed to dump their excess production at prices with 

 which home manufacturers have found it exceedingly difficult 

 to compete, and from what reaches me from commercial circles 

 it would seem that something of the sort is being done with 

 l)alata belting. This is now being energetically pushed by Lon- 

 don distributors at prices which suggest an effort to get ousiness 

 at whatever cost, to judge by the liberal discounts allowed off 

 the li.-it prices of really good quality. 



Corfcsj^ondent. 



From these remarks it will be seen then that the British manu- 

 facture, though so young as a competitive industry, has early 

 had to contend with business conditions of a disquieting nature. 

 It is matter for consideration whether the output will not before 

 long exceed the demand. There is no reason to suppose that 

 belting generally has suddenly sprung into greatly increased de- 

 mand, and it is a fair surmise that a good deal of the business 

 done in balata belting is at the expense of leather, rubber, cotton, 

 or camel hair. 



The principal advantage possessed by balata belting over other 

 materials, such js leather and cotton, is in resistance to damp, 

 though as an offset to this its liability to soften at moderately 

 ':'gn temperatures renders it of much less utility than other mate- 

 rials in warm climates. In this respect it is of course not in- 

 ferior to gutta-percha belting, which is made to a limited extent, 

 but it cannot compete with rubber belting or with the special 

 form of hair belting brought out by Reddaway & Co., and 

 which has a vulcanized rubber coating all over its surface and 

 sides. Exceptional situations and purposes apart, however, it is 

 clear that the low price and general utility of balata belting 

 foreshadow increasing sales in the future. To quote only one 

 special instance where it has recently come into favor, we have 

 the elevator belts used in running macliinery, especially for rais- 

 mg ore which has been crushed under water. Such belts are 

 about 40 feet long by 9 inches wide, and are continually in con- 

 tact with cold water. 



The firms now actually manufacturing balata belting in Great 

 Britain are R. J. Dick & Co., Glasgow ; Turner Brothers, Lim- 

 ited, of Rochdale, the well known asbestos manufacturers; the 

 Irwell and Eastern Rubber Co., Salford, Manchester; and The 

 Manchester Balata Belting Co.. of Clayton. Manchester, with 

 which concern rumor associates the name of Messrs. Franken- 

 burg. The Gandy Belt Manufacturing Co., of Seacombe, 

 Cheshire, a concern which a few years ago bought up the rights 

 of Velvril, Limited, as far as the belt manufacture is concerned, 

 are certainly announced as balata belt dealers, but like several 

 other home and foreign firms there seems some doubt as to whether 

 in this particular article they come strictly into the category of 



