302 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



(Febrlarv 1, 1917. 



facing the trade. Continued growtli of tlic tire industry and 

 the demand.s of the war have made the year's consumption of 

 crude rubber practically equal to production, yet the world's 

 available stock today is greater than ever before. London stocks 

 on November 30 totaled 10,194 tons as follows; Plantation, 

 9,145 tons; Para, 177 tons; other kinds, 872 tons. British im- 

 ports and dvliverios of all sorts for the year were 68,405 and 

 65,018 tons respectively, the December figures being estimated. 

 Of these amounts 58.341 and 54.800 tons, respectively, were 

 other than Para and Peruvian. 



THE M.NRKKT. 

 As a result of the bear squeeze which licgan in November, 

 1915, the year 1916 opened w-ith very high prices and on Jan- 

 uary 6 plantation crepe touched 4^^. S'^d.. but rapidly declined 

 to 3.V. With heavy fluctuations during the next three months 

 crepe decHned to 2.t. 4d. in July and to 2s. 2d. the three succeed- 



Ciimfllcd by Go-.i:. Wilson & Stanton. 

 Crepe Ribbed Smoked Sheet- 



Para. 



Fluitu.\tions in St.\ndard Plant.^tion Grades and Fine 

 Hard Para Rubber, 1916. 



ing months, the market being quiet in tone with small business. 

 As in 1915, prices stififened up in November, and aided by specu- 

 lators and the reserved selling of producers reached is. Syid., 

 but the year closed, quietly at 3s. Corresponding extremes for 

 ribbed smoked sheet were 4.5. 2jXrf. and 2s. V/^d. The fear of 

 submarine losses and apprehension lest lack of cargo space pre- 

 vent fulfilling forward contracts were important considerations 

 contributory to the November rise. 



While the demand for Para sorts has at no time equaled 

 that for plantation, values have been well sustained and during 

 occasional bursts of active trading prices have temporarily shown 

 a premium over plantation. The highest and lowest quotations 

 for the year were As. \d. and 2s. lYzd. Good quality gutta 

 percha realized high prices and the demand for balata has 

 been constant throughout the year. Sheet closing at 3.f. 2j/2(/. 

 and Block at 2.s. V/id. 



The following closing prices for recent years may be of in- 

 terest: 



n,irt! Negrohc-ad Negrohcad Caucho 



Tine Para. Scrappv. Island. Ball. 



1914 2.!. 10V.i(/. 2s. \'/2d. Is. id. 2s. Ad. 



1915 is. 9d. 2s. \0d. \s. 7d. 3s. 



ISlf' is. id. U. llrf. U. 3d. 2s. 2d. 



'i'he enormous exports of plantation rul)ber to the United 

 States, estimated at £25,000,000, have influenced the level of 

 American exchange in no small degree to the benefit of Great 

 Britain. 



THR WORLDS PROnUCTION. 



The world's total production of crude rubber of all grades 

 is variously estimated by authorities at 178,000 to 198,000 tons, 

 an increase of 32,000 to 52,000 tons and commonly spoken of as 

 25 to 28 per cent. The greater output of plantations in the 

 Far East is chiefly responsible for this, about 75 per cent of 

 the world's total production now coming from that source. De- 

 spite the shortage of assistants on these great estates, their 

 rapid growth continues, as shown by the following table of the 

 total production of crude rubber for the last three years: 



1916. 1915. 1914. 



Ccvidti and India tons 24,500 20,600 14,800 



jMalaya, etc 105.500 72,808 49,700 



Amazonas (Brazil, Bolivia and Peru).... 28,255 30,700 28,345 



Peruvian and Caucho 8,245 6,800 8,655 



West Coast, .Africa 1 f 2,500 2,650 



Eenguela and Mossamedes } 2,000 { 1,900 1,500 



Loanda J [ 600 450 



Congo, French Congo and SouJan 5,000 3,000 3,900 



From other sources 4,500 7,100 10,380 



Totals 178,000 146,000 120,380 



The production of South American rubber was somewhat in- 

 creased, although including more Caucho ball and less Manicoba 

 and Assare. Practically all the Amazon rubber has been con- 

 sumed in 1516. Central America exported very little and almost 

 no guayule. Increased amounts have been received from West 

 Coast Africa, especially Congo and Soudan, but very little froin 

 East Africa and Madagascar. Although Penang doubled its sup- 

 ply of wild rubber, Sumatra, Java and Borneo exported less 

 Rambong rubber but more Hevca. The production of jelutong 

 and lialata decreased considerably. 



The following table shows the annual receipts and shipments 

 at Para during the years 1914 to 1916: 



1916. 1915. , 1914. 



Receipts of Para Ions 28,260 30,595 28,170 



Receipts of Peruvian 8,245 6,800 8,655 



Shipments of Para and Peruvian to Europe. 12,045 14,440 15,985 



Shipments of Para and Peruvian to America 22,185 22,960 21,690 



The total 1917 production of crude rubber promises to show 

 a further increase, although perhaps not as great as some an- 

 ticipate because thinning out is wisely in active operation on 

 many plantations. The demand shows no sign of abatement 

 and many estates have already sold freely for 1917 and even 

 1918. 



PLANTATION RUBBER. 



While plantation acreages continue to increase in several re- 

 gions of the F'ar East, as shown by the following estimates, the 

 greater production of the past year is, of course, due chiefly 

 to increased yields per acre. 



1916. 1915. 1914. 



Ccvlon acres 230,000 230,000 220,000 



Malaya, Malacca 600,000 550.000 500,000 



Borneo 30,000 20.000 20,000 



Dutch East Indies, Java, Sumatra, etc 500,000 450,000 400.000 



India and Burma 40,000 40,000- 65,000 



German colonies, Samoa, East and West 



Africa 12,000 12,000 40,000 



Totals 1,412,000 1,302.000 1,245,000 



Plantations, chiefly of Castilloa, in Mexico, West Indies and 

 Central and South America have shown no progress and the 

 yields have been insignificant. The same is true of Ceara plan- 

 tations in East Africa. 



