168 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1916. 



installed in Riga a year prior to the war, and which is known 

 as the Societe Kautschuk, has also been removed to Moscow 

 where it is now in full operation producing tires for our armies. 



RAW MATERIALS. 

 Our rubber factories have at no time had to suffer from any 

 shortage of crude rubber ; they had immense stocks on hand 

 when the war broke out and have continued to receive shipments 

 in proportion to their requirements. Chemicals and compound- 

 ing ingredients have at times been very scarce, but not enough so 

 to prevent our rubber manufacturers from maintaining their 

 enormous production. 



RUBBER WASTE. 



Progress has been made in the rubber reclaiming industry 

 here since the outbreak of the war, but the quantities of rub- 

 ber scrap — mostly footwear — that are accumulating are tre- 

 mendous, and prices are very low. This old rubber is being 

 collected gradually, sorted and stored for keeping until normal 

 conditions will permit its exportation. 



Prior to the war we exported rubber waste in very large 

 quantities to England, the United States and Germany. The last 

 three normal years previous to the war these exports to the 

 United States alone averaged 6,235,916 pounds in weight and 

 $492,425 in value per annum. 



It is rumored that tlie Russian Asiatic Bank, probably the prin- 

 cipal owner of our large trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific steam- 

 ship companies, is helping to finance the collection, sorting and 

 storing of rubber waste which will be exported after the war. 



NEW RUBBER CEMENT. 



Unlike the soldiers of the other warring nations, most of whom 

 travel by train or motor, the millions of our troops have to 

 march, and the problem of keeping their feet from direct con- 

 tact with the ground is no small one, especially in view of the 

 fact that machinery for re-soling boots is rare in Russia and 

 hand-work requires much time. 



This condition of affairs led to the idea of cementing rubber 

 patches and half-soles to worn-out soldier's boots, but this, too, 

 was a long operation until a rubber expert discovered a cement 

 which is not affected by variations of temperature, can be used 

 cold, and dries so quickly that a good workman can repair from 

 200 to 230 boots a day. 



This discovery was made in 1915 when, as a first experiment, 

 a company of infantry of 200 men was shod with rubber soles 

 applied to their boots with this new cement. The results were 

 so gratifying that now there are many Russian regiments march- 

 ing on rubber soles and I understand "rubber-cobblers" trained 

 to use the new cement, will be attached to each and every com- 

 pany of the army. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN JAPAN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



ACCORDING to the latest reports from the Agriculture and 

 Commerce Department of the Japanese Government, crude 

 rubber imports in 1915 amounted to 3,903,550 pounds valued at 

 $1,71 5,793, an increase of 1,598,288 pounds and $708,479 over the 

 preceding year. The imports at Kobe alone reached 2,350,376 

 pounds valued at $1,608,594. 



CRUDE RUBBER IMPORTS. 



1914. 1915. 



r- ' > / * V 



Pounds. Value. Poinds. Value. 



British India 406,676 $223,637 1,114,441 $470,329 



Straits Settlements 1.646,556 678,730 2,017,176 863,593 



Dutch India 13,034 1,678 299,774 113,083 



Great Britain 224,500 159,312 352,164 196,865 



Germany 1,468 1,200 1,900 514 



United States 11,914 8,166 98,430 58,819 



Mexico 3,700 3,262 



Philippines 3,976 2,235 



Other Countries 1,114 581 11,989 7,098 



2,305,262 $1,073,319 3,903,550 $1,715,793 



TIRE INDUSTRY GROWING RAPIDLY. 

 The increase was due to the demands of the newly established 

 works in Tokio and Osaka and much cnlarficd consumption of 

 the Dunlop Rubber Co. (Far East), Limited, the Kakuichi Rub- 

 ber Co., and other leading firms. The Japanese rubber industry 

 has been making great progress. Goods of every description 

 are being manufactured at rather lower prices than hitherto, not 

 only for home consumption — supplied by imports before the war 

 — but to meet foreign demands as well. For instance, bicycle 

 tires are now being made at 1.80 yen (90 cents) a pair, former 

 prices being 5-6 yen ($2.50 to $3.00) a pair. Tire manufacturers 

 in Tokio and Osaka have manufactured sixty to seventy thou- 

 sand pairs for foreign orders and many more for jinrikishas, 

 which were formerly imported from Germany. The Dunlop 

 Rubber Co. (Far East), Limited, manufactured ten times the 

 ordinary annual output of bicycle and automobile tires to fill 

 the British orders. 



CRUDE RUBBER FROM CEYLON, JAVA AND ENGLAND. 



Imports of crude rubber from Ceylon increased greatly during 

 the Singapore embargo from October, 1914, to April, 1915, but 

 fell off again after the latter date because of the lower Singapore 

 prices and the shorter distance to Japan. Singapore imports 

 included plantation pale sheet, smoked sheet, mixed sheet and 

 pale crepe in about equal quantities. Native rubber from India 

 and Borneo, previously much used by Japan, were not in de- 

 mand because of the supply of plantation rubber. 



Crude rubber from Java, never imported before, began to 

 come in after the Singapore embargo was declared, and still 

 continues to be imported because the prices are lower. Both 

 smoked sheet and crepe are received. Japanese rubber .manu- 

 facturers could scarcely have maintained their output except for 

 Japanese imports. 



Crude rubber from England could be imported during the 

 embargo, but at first little use was made of this fact because of 

 the time required and the fear that the embargo might be re- 

 moved before receipt of the British goods. During the autumn, 

 however, large British shipments were received for the manu- 

 facture of bicycle and automobile tires for export. Crude rub- 

 ber was also wanted from the United States, but American prices 

 were higher than British and shipping facilities were not so 

 good as from England. 



The crude rubber quotations in Osaka, 1915, were as follows: 



I 



Borneo vnhhzv. .. per lOO pounds .. 



India rubber 85 



Pale sheet 105 



Soutli American Para 150 



January-April. 



United 

 States 

 Cur- 

 rency. 



$42.50 

 52.50 

 75.00 



July-August. November, 



Yen. 

 63.75 

 85.00 

 115.00 

 140.00 



United 

 States 

 Cur- 

 rency. 

 $31.88 

 42.50 

 57.50 

 70.00 



Yen. 



75 

 100 

 150 

 160 



United 



States 

 Cur- 

 rency. 

 $37.50 

 50.00 

 75.00 

 80.00 



RUBBER TIRE EXPORTS. 

 In 1915, tire exports amounted to 2,512,966 pounds valued at 

 $1,706,316, an increase of 1,630,191 pounds and $1,163,181 over the 

 previous year. Detailed figures follow : 



1914. 



1915. 



Pounds. 



China 346,120 



Kwanton Province 4,556 



Hongkong • 2,938 



British India 37,756 



Straits Settlements 224.470 



Dutch India 250,224 



French India 750 



Great Britain 5,758 



Siam 140 



Germany 10 



United States- 10,000 



Canada^ 53 



Australia 



Total 882,775 



Aside from supplying home demands the Japanese rubber 

 industry has made great progress in the export of rubber tires 

 and other goods to Straits Settlements and Asiatic countries 

 supplied by European countries previous to the war. Large or- 



