DtCEMBER 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



113 



Litharge has advanced a quarter of a cent a pound lately, 

 and there is a further upward tendency. The average level in 

 1916 will, unquestionably, be a high one. 



LiTHoi'ONE (30 per cent.) is becoming scarcer due to the 

 advance of the zinc market. Very little is now imported, and 

 none, of course, from Germany. Lithopone will probably ad- 

 vance from one to two cents a pound. The market is now firm 

 at 7 cents on contracts for 1916, and plus charges, will bring 

 it up to 7;/i cents a pound. For local distribution to small buyers 

 the market price will range between lYi and 8 cents a pound. 



M.\<;nesia Carbonate. There are four or five American pro- 

 ducers who formerly had to almost beg for orders, but now 

 they cannot take care of the business offered them, as the 

 foreign demand is so great. It is being used in the making 

 of e.xplosives, and is employed as an inert "carrier" for nitro- 

 glycerin and the like in the manufacture of dynamite and its 

 destructive kindred. 



Calcined Magnesia, tlie cheaper German grade, is advancing, 

 and prices will be much higher. 



Magnesite has heretofore come mostly from Greece, but this 

 source of supply is now shut off. Pacific coast magnesite is not 

 available in sufficient quantities to meet the demand, and the 

 cost of transportation is high. This material is used in the 

 making of refractory linings for steel furnaces and in the 

 fabrication of crucibles, etc. The state of the steel market, in 

 meeting the requirements of war, explains tlie magnesite situa- 

 tion. Prices will range between $50 and $60 a ton. 



Oil, Aniline. Owing to the new manufacturers here, prices 

 now may be made on contracts for next year ranging from 75 

 to 80 cents a pound. Producers naturally want to cover the 

 cost of their lately established plants, and are purposely keep- 

 ing up the prices to that end. 



Oil, Pine. Tlie prices for this oil have been high because 

 the turpentine plants in the South were shut down at the out- 

 break of the war. There is practically none of this in the 

 market now and prices are advancing, ranging from 65 to 80 

 cents a gallon. 



Orange Mineral. At this writing, the price is 12 cents a 

 pound, and there is every reason to believe it will advance. 



Pitch, Burgundy, supply rapidly diminishing. 



Prussian Blue is going higher on account of the increased 

 cost of domestic manufacture. A large dealer has declared 

 that it is unwise to predict the ultimate price. 



RosiN prices are high, but it is quite likely that there will 

 be a decline immediately following the arrival of the December 

 crop. However, it is probable that an advance will again be 

 made. The comparatively low prices here are due to the 

 difficulty of shipping abroad, and the domestic users benefit ac- 

 cordingly. Rosin is employed extensively in the manufacture 

 of a variety of munitions. 



Rubber Substitutes have gradually increased in price owing 

 to the advance in the cost of oils, particularly rapcseed. The 

 rise in rubber substitutes has been quite 25 per cent, since the 

 outbreak of the war, and the future is decidedly problematical. 



Shellac is gradually advancing, and is uncertain, like all 

 other allied crop products. 



Sulphur Chloride has been the object of an extraordinary 

 foreign demand, and such, too. has been the case with I)i- 

 sulphide of carbon. Heretofore business has been refused by 

 domestic manufacturers in the interest of American consumers. 

 H. however, this available foreign business is covered, then the 

 domestic consumer will undoubtedly face an advance in price. 

 How long the American producer can withstand foreign offers 

 at persuasive prices is a question. 



Sulphuric Acid is one of the hardest things to get in the 

 chemical market today, and it figures importantly in a wide 

 variety of industries. Prices are way up, and as much as 

 $200 a ton has already been demanded for spot. This situa- 

 tion intimately concerns rubber reclamation. 



Toluol, pure. The market now ranges between $4.50 and 

 $5 a gallon, and none can be had on contract until 1917. Some 

 spot is available in varying quantities, due to excess of produc- 

 tion over that estimated by the manufacturers. As long as 

 the war continues the scarcity will probably prevail. 



Vermilion, brilliant, will grow scarcer the longer the war con- 

 tinues, as German base colors are necessary to its production. 

 The supply is now almost exhausted. American vermilion is 

 equally affected by the conflict in Europe through the advance 

 of the mercury market, mercury being extensively employed in 

 making the widely used detonator — fulminate of mercury. 



Waxes present an interesting situation. More yellow bees- 

 wax is used than white beeswax. The price now ranges from 

 25 to 40 cents a pound. For this natural yellow beeswax the 

 wide world is being drawn upon— Asia, Africa, Australia, and 

 practically all of the islands of the seas, and our importations 

 are exceptionally large. The stocks have been well absorbed, 

 so that prices have been maintained. We have taken care of 

 Huropean consumption in doing this. Ozokerite and montan, which 

 are produced in Austria and Germany, are no longer coming to 

 us and the supply is substantially exhausted. On a normal 

 market selling at from 18 to 20 cents a pound we now have 

 to pay as high as 65 cents for ozokerite. Montan selling or- 

 dinarily at from 5-H to 6^ cents a pound has sold recently at 

 25 cents. Ceresin is ozokerite wax refined and lowered in 

 price by the admixture of paraffin. The price of ceresin will 

 naturally depend upon the supply of ozokerite, and we can get 

 no more of this until the war ends. Most manufacturers of 

 paraffin are sold up three to six months ahead. 



Whiting will probably remain about the same but with an 

 upward tendency due to the higher cost of cliff stone — the 

 advance there being the result of increased labor costs, coal, 

 and the lack of barrels. The future price can not be safely 

 predicted. 



Yellow Ochre is to be had here from domestic deposits, 

 but the product is of low strength. The best comes from 

 France and the price is going up on account of the lack of 

 labor and other economic consequences of the war. It is not 

 unlikely that there may be an advance of a cent a pound. 



Zinc Oxides. .As is well known, there has been a highly 

 speculative market in these, and certain gradings, such as "XX 

 Horsehead," have sold as high as 15 cents a pound. Of French 

 process, green seal, there is practically no supply here. In 

 fact, inquiries are now coming from abroad for all grades. 

 Zinc sulphide, 30 per cent., is so scarce that one big dealer 

 has said he does not know where any can be obtained. Cer- 

 tainly the outlook for the makers of white goods is a most 

 unpromising one for 1916. 



There are, however, a number of chemicals and ingredients 

 that have not been affected by the war and are normal in 

 price and quantity. For instance, talc, soapstone, aluminum 

 flake, mica, asbestine and sulphur flowers are produced in this 

 country and are cheap and plentiful. .Asphaltum, lampblack, 

 infusorial earth, tripolite earth, rotten stone are about normal 

 in price and the supplies are apparently abundant for all 

 purposes. 



The complete and well-arranged catalog of the Scientific 

 Materials Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, devoted to chemical 

 laboratory equipment, has been received. It is fully illustrated 

 and well indexed, and will be appreciated among chemists. 



The .\rthur H. Thomas Co.. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pub- 

 lish a large cloth-bound catalog of 579 pages supplemented with 

 a 70-page list of reagents. The book is devoted to apparatus 

 selected for laboratories of chemistry and biology in their ap- 

 plication to education, industry, medicine and public health. As 

 a reference book it will be appreciated in any laboratory. 



