April 1, 1916.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



379 



Figures showing exports of goods manufactured of rubber, as 

 given in the official report include : 



Insulated -jlectri 



Rubber tires fc 



and bicycles . 



•ikishas 



Value. Pounds. Value. 



$196,928 1,930,654 $449,77 



543,135 2,512,969 1,706,315 



Total $740,063 $2,156,091 



Other export figures include waterproofed cloth for surgical 

 use in the Russian army, to the value of $50,000; various soft 

 rubber articles for British India, to the value of $15,000; dolls, 

 balls, balloons, toys. etc.. to the United States and other coun- 

 tries, to the value of $100,000, and similar articles to Russia, to 

 the amount of $50,000; the aggregate total value of these and 

 other goods wholly or partly of rubber amounting to over 

 $210,000. 



The prices of Pale sheet plantation rubber varied considerably 

 during the year, as will be seen by the following table ; 

 PLANTATION RUBBER. 





Ti 



October 27.. 

 November 26. 

 December 16. 



MANUFACTURING SITUATION IN 1915. 

 Naturally, manufacturers were greatly hindered the first of 

 the year by the shortage of crude rubber, but after the first of 

 April imports were sufficient to enable them to run their factories 

 to full capacity. Tire manufacturers benefited by the shortage 

 of European goods, owing to the seizure of factories for uses 

 of the armies. Some of the hard rubber manufacturers re- 

 ceived orders for several thousand gross of poker chips and 

 similar articles from Russia, and manufacturers of nursing nip- 

 ples were enabled to export some 30,000 gross to British India. 

 The United States sent orders for several hundred thousand 

 gross of toy balloons, and Russia gave orders for water- 

 proofed fabrics which required the consumption of more than 

 a ton of crude rubber per month from May until the end of 

 the year. All these, together with the very notable increase in 

 the domestic demand, required manufacturers to push their 

 works to full producing capacity. They had the same difficulty 

 as manufacturers in other countries, owing to the greatly ad- 

 vanced cost of compounding ingredients. For instance, golden 

 antimony and crimson antimony, because of the absence of im- 

 ports from Great Britain, rose from 1 yen 20 sen [60 cents] a 

 pound, to 4 yen [$2] by the end of the year. These materials 

 became so scarce that cinnabar was used as a substitute, and 

 this has also advanced greatly in price because of the heavily 

 increased demand for mercury. Zinc white, which cost 12 yen 

 [$6] per hundred weight in March and April, was quoted at 

 42 yen [$21] by the end of the year, and machines, molds — in 

 fact, nearly everything in the way of equipment, show propor- 

 tionate advances. 



CHANGES IN THE INDUSTRY. 



Quite a number of new rubber factories were established in 

 Japan during the past year. Seven of these are in Tokyo, eight 

 in Osaka, Kobe and Hyogo. They are here listed. 



Taisho Rubber Co., Ltd., Kitakamata, Tokyo. Capital $25,000. 

 Rubberized fabrics and goods. 



Saito Rubber Cloth Works, 3 Chome, Kayabacho, Honjo, 

 Tokyo. 



Nipon Cristall Rubber Works, Tarashima, Tokyo. Dipped 

 goods. 



Chuo Rubber Co., Ltd., Komagomi-Sakashitacho, Tokyo. Cap- 

 ital, $100,000. Molded specialties. 



Katnada Rubber Works, Kami-Komagomi, Tokyo. Toy balls, 

 heels, etc. 



Taiheiyo Rubber Co., Kami-Meguro, Tokyo. Capital, $6,000. 



Kimura Rubber Works, 812 Somei, Tokyo. Soles, etc. 



Hanhoku Rubber Works, Ebie, Sagisu-gun, Osaka. Capital, 

 $25,000. 



Sango Shokai Rubber Works, Imamiya, Osaka. 



Hinomaru Electric Wire & Rubber Co., Satsumabori-Mina- 

 micho, Osaka. Tires and insulated wire manufacture. 



Kamada Rubber Manufacturing Co., Osaka. 



Niwa Shoten Rubber Works, Osaka. 



Futaba Rubber Co., Ltd. Fukiai-Kunika-dori, Kobe. Tires. 



Toa Rubber Industry Co., Sugawara-dori, Hyogo. Capital, 

 $7,250. 



Morinaga Rubber Works, Shiri-ike, Hyogo. 



During the year the following concerns ceased business: 



Nakajima & Co. (Tokyo), sold out to Saito Rubber Cloth Co. 



Chuo Rubber Co. (Kami-Orchiai, Tokyo), whose factory was 

 destroyed by fire and not rebuilt. 



Kanto Rubber Cloth Co. and Teikoku Rubber Co., Limited 

 (both in Tokyo), and Osaka Rubber Works, failed in business. 



Teat & Co. (Kobe) is succeeded by the Standard Rubber Co. 



It will thus be seen that though there were some trade mis- 

 fortunes during the year, there is really an increased number 

 of concerns in Japan who are manufacturing rubber goods of 

 one description or another. 



RUBBER CONDITIONS IN CEYLON. 



By a Special Correspondent. 

 "T^HE year 1915 was a very prosperous one for the rubber trade 

 ■*■ in Ceylon. Export figures show a remarkable expansion 

 over 1914. Rubber exported from the island in 1915 amounted 

 to 45,143,735 pounds as compared with 36,235,114 pounds in 1914, 

 showing an increase of 8.908.621 pounds. Considering the re- 

 stricted facilities of freight, these exports are truly remarkable, 

 in regard to both demand and production. 



A striking feature of our exports of crude rubber in 1915 is 

 that the United States figures show an increase of 100 per cent 

 over the previous year's record, being 18.585,890 pounds in 1915, 

 as compared with 9.187,191 pounds in 1914. 



Australia took 844,977 pounds of Ceylon rubber, as com- 

 pared with 619,175 pounds in 1914. Offsetting these increases in 

 part, the exports of crude rubber to the Continent of Europe 

 show a decrease from 4,448,560 pounds in 1914 to only 925,732 

 pounds in 1915. 



Russia purchased more Ceylon rubber in 1915 than in 1914. 

 During 1915 we shipped to Russia 332,200 pounds of crude rub- 

 ber as against 105,212 pounds in the previous year. 



A feature of the Ceylon rubber trade in 1915 was the forward 

 contracts by private treaty, large sales having been effected for 

 1916 at a rate of about 2.05 rupees [$0.67] per pound. The sub- 

 ject of these forward contracts is being much discussed. We 

 learn from London that shareholders rarely fail to criticize such 

 contracts if there be a subsequent improvement in the price of 

 rubber; at the same time, complaints are usually recorded if 

 no contracts are made and the price of rubber afterwards de- 

 clines. It is generally believed here that forward sales should 

 be made whenever the price secured insures a reasonable profit. 

 It is argued that selling forward is of importance to manufac- 

 turers, who can thus cover contracts for delivery of manufac- 

 tured goods extending over a very long period and that, there- 

 fore, forward sales induce manufacturers to give preference to 

 plantation rubber. 



SCHOOL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE. 



Probably one of the greatest events in the modern history of 

 agriculture in Ceylon occurred on Saturday, January 15, when 

 the School of Tropical Agriculture at Peradeniya was formally 

 inaugurated by Sir Anton Bertram. The scheme was nearly 16 

 years old and was originated by Sir West Ridgeway, who first 

 appointed a commission to consider what should be done with 

 the Agricultural School then at Colombo. The object of the 

 new school is to bring agricultural education within the reach 

 ot the natives. 



