March 1. 1919.; 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



327 



The Rubber Trade in GreatjBritaln. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



'RA.VI RUBBER. 



SUPPLIES of Brazilian fine rubber are now coming to hand 

 since shipping has become available. There is still, how- 

 ever, considerable delay at the ports, rubber which arrived 

 in Liverpool in the first week of December not reaching the 

 rubber works until the middle of January. This rubber was 

 bought at a considerably higher price than to-day's quotations, 

 but of course the future position could not be foreseen and 

 supplies had to be assured. Now the premium on Brazilian is 

 much lower than it was, the determining factor being shipping 

 facilities. Rubber works generally seem to be pretty well sup- 

 plied for their raw product and there is little buying at the 

 satisfactory price of 2s. per pound. Indeed, there is a good 

 deal on hand and more to come forward at \s. 9d. per pound, 

 and in some quarters there is a disposition to wish that the 

 price would rise. There does not seem much chance of this, 

 however, as long as the blockade of Germany continues and 

 until the factories of Germany, Austria, and Russia get into 

 full swing again. I hear of quite a large inquiry for raw rubber 

 from Switzerland, which seems somewhat strange as this is 

 not a manufacturing country. 



TRADE CONDITIONS. 

 The past month has been characterized by much the same 

 conditions as the preceding. There is a halting tone in the 

 rubber trade as in most others, the fixation of contracts being 

 deferred for the more favorable prices which buyers are always 

 anticipating in the following week. With regard to the home 

 rubber trade, the armistice came at the worst time of the year 

 and general business has not progressed according to expecta- 

 tions. In fact, there is a good deal of pessimism to be met 

 with because expenses and taxes show no signs of diminution 

 with the cessation of so much government business. Govern- 

 ment work naturally has not come to an end ; even in peace- 

 time there is always business doing and there will be for some 

 time large armies to be equipped. One or two classes of rubber 

 goods, particularly those where spreading is concerned, have 

 had their production entirely stopped, leaving a good deal of 

 plant capacity idle, but in a general way the proofers by 

 working ordinary hours and stopping all overtime have been 

 able to dispense with any drastic dismissal of eni]jl(iyes. 



RUBBER CARD CLOTH. 

 In the November issue I referred to the rubber card cloth in 

 which a large business has always been done between British 

 manufacturers and Continental spinners. This trade was 

 naturally much upset by the war and it does not look as if it 

 would be resumed as quickly as was expected. This is entirely 

 because of price. The material is wanted badly by the numerous 

 mills which are now being rebuilt and put in order in Belgium 

 and France and plenty of inquiries and orders have come to 

 England. However, these have reference to pre-war prices 

 which are quite out of the question on account of the rises in 

 cotton, steel, and labor. Like many other rubber goods, the 

 rubber in card clothing, though a most important component, 

 does not form the whole or even the major part of the finished 

 articles, so the fact that there has been no rise in the price 

 of rubber has not a great bearing on the matter. Buyers no 

 doubt will come to recognize that higher prices will have to 

 be paid, but at the time of writing there is absolutely nothing 

 doing in the Continental business referred to, 



LABOR CONDITIONS. 



The high rates of wages paid to munition workers and the 



numerous bonuses granted to workers of almost all kinds on 



account of the increased cost of living have caused a general 

 upset in the labor world and on all sides one reads of persistent 

 demands for higher wages, in nearly all cases coupled with a 

 request for shorter working hours. This hardly looks promis- 

 ing for a large increase of trade at competitive prices, though 

 I think it may be taken for granted that the same sort of thing 

 will be experienced to a greater or less extent all over Europe. 

 The engineers' demand for a 47-hour week with no work before 

 breakfast having been generally conceded, the cotton and other 

 large industries are agitating in the same direction. It is stated 

 by the men that there will be no diminution in the output, this 

 being rather suggestive of slackness in the past. The employers 

 say that they will not be able to check this statement until 

 some months, possibly a year, has passed under the new con- 

 ditions. The 48-hour week having been established, there is 

 now talk of a 44-hour week. So far these movements have 

 affected only the fringe of the rubber trade, t. e., the mechanical 

 shops found in the larger works, but no doubt the whole trade 

 will shortly be affected. 



A good deal of resentment is shown by British workers at 

 having to pay income tax and there is a strong disposition in 

 some quarters to keep earnings below the taxable limit. In 

 America I understand the case is different and the work people 

 earn as much money as they can. This means that output is 

 maintained and no doubt increased, while the action of our 

 workers has the opposite effect. It is this rise in the cost of 

 labor that must effectively prevent any return to pre-war prices 

 in the case of almost every article of expenditure, whatever 

 may be the fluctuation in the price of materials. 

 DUROPRENE. 



This is a new varnish put upon the market by the United 

 .\lkali Co., Limited. Although its composition is not divulged 

 in the trade circulars which extol its many desirable properties, 

 it is understood to consist largely of the hydrochloride of 

 caoutchouc, or whatever may be the correct designation of the 

 white body produced by the action of chlorine upon rubber. 

 The kaloid derivatives of rubber have now been known for 

 many years in the chemical laboratories, but it is only in the 

 last year or two that they have been put to commercial use, 

 the pioneer in this movement having been S. Peachey, of Man- 

 chester. Duroprene is a thick viscous liquid which may be 

 thinned by various diluents if the purchaser for special purposes 

 so desires. A strong point is made of its noninfiammability, 

 and it has found favor as a fireproof dope as well as for 

 varnishing wood and metal work of all kinds as a precaution 

 against damp. It is claimed that its noninflammable character 

 makes it superior to most agents as a waterproofing medium. 

 I do not know whether this is capable of replacing rubber in 

 this connection, but it is a quite new application of rubber. The 

 price for single gallons is 14.r . while for 100 gallons it is 

 reduced to 12.t. 6d. per gallon f. n. b. works, which are at 

 Widner, Lancashire. 



THE SOLVENT POSITION. 



The contracts for solvent naphtha for 1919 rule about 2s. 9d. 

 per gallon, a considerable reduction from the prices of the last 

 two years, but still much higher than is liked in the now closely 

 competitive spreading branch of the trade. The increased use 

 of coal-tar products for mixing with petrol for motor purposes 

 has had the effect of keeping up prices for the former. Thus 

 benzol, which is now free from governinent control, is quoted 

 at 2s. 6rf. per gallon, though it may be taken for granted that 

 this price will come down as further stocks of petrol become 

 available. Benzol has never been at all popular with proofers 



