March 1, 1919. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Russian Trade Possibilities. 



A' 



eminent Russian aulhority on 

 economics, Professor Joseph M. 

 Goldstein, of the Moscow High In- 

 stitute of Commerce and Industry, and 

 of the University of Moscow, stated 

 seventeen years ago in a report to Count 

 Witte that if Russia did not radically 

 change her foreign policy she would be- 

 come, in effect, a German colony. Pre- 

 vious to the present war this result had 

 actually taken place as shown by Ger- 

 many's preponderating control of Rus- 

 sia's import trade in all classes of manu- 

 factures. Previous to 1914 Russian im- 

 port trade amounted to $600,000,000 an- 

 nually and official statistics indicate that 

 Germany was constantly gaining increas- 

 ing control of this trade. Now with the 

 country disorganized, Russia's imports 

 will amount to $1,500,000. Here is a 

 magnificent opportunity for the Allies to 

 free Russia from German economic domi- 

 nation on a purely business basis. 



In the statistics presented by Professor 

 Goldstein, those of interest to American 

 rubber manufacturers include the follow- 

 ing classifications, representing the total 

 rubber and rubber goods importations by 

 Russia for 1913 and the large proportion c 



RUBBER GOODS IMPORTED INTO RUSSIA. 



Impor-ted ■f 



itrolled by Germany. 



nd gutta percha. 



Crude rubber 



Rubber cloth 



Soft rubber sheets 



Products of soft rubber 



Soft rubber combined with othe 



Total Pounds 

 Imported from , — 

 All Countries. Pe 

 24,960,200 





Value. 

 $5,000,000 

 179,000 

 189,000 

 212,000 



als 



In the case of machinery 

 accessory the figures are as 



Threshers, etc . . . 

 Locomotives and i 



Typewriters 



Cycles (2 wheel) 

 Motor cycles . . . 

 Automobiles 



Totals 



395,200 



$6,661,000 



In the matter of certain minerals and chemicals, Germany's 

 trade with Russia averaged 71 per cent of the total in those 

 lines in 1913 and aggregated a value of $1,719,000. The mate- 

 rials referred lo included tars, pitches, asphalt, mineral wax, 

 parafline, sulphur, sulphuric acid, bisulphide of carbon, benzol, 

 aniline and caustic soda. These are all utilized lo greater or 

 lesser extent in rubber manufacture as well as in other lines. 



Russia will have need to import manufactured goods for an 

 indefinitely long time, and it is imperatively necessary for the 

 world's security that Germany be prevented from gaining eco- 

 nomic control of Russia. 



CEYLON RUBBER. 



In 1908 the shipinents of Ceylon rubber amounted to less than 

 a million pounds; nine years later, in 1917, the figure increased 

 to over 75,000,000 pounds, exceeding the previous record year of 

 1916 by nearly 30 per cent, compared with the increase in value 

 of approximately 23 per cent. 



Average rubber prices for the five years 1913 to 1917 were as 

 follows : $0.62 per pound in 1913, $0.46 in 1914, $0.54 in 1915, 

 $0.58 in 1916, and $0.48 in 1917. Owing to the disclocation of 

 exchange the first rubber auction in the chamber of commerce 

 rooms was not held until February 23, and then payment was in 

 London sterling drafts instead •oi Indian rupees. This condition 

 of payment prevailed at all the sales throughout ihe year. There 

 was, however, a fair amount of business done in private sales. 

 First quality crepe opened at $0.58, advancing steadily to $0.68 

 per pound by April. Prices then declined until the beginning of 

 August, when first-quality crepe auctioned at $0.47 per pound. In 

 November the price recovered to $0.52, but in December it again 

 fell, until the highest price paid was $0.40 per pound. For the 

 first three months of the year crepe had an advantage of about 

 $0.03; in April prices were about the same; in May smoked 

 sheets were relatively a cent higher ; in August they reached a 

 point of about $0.03 higher; but during the rest of the year crepe 

 was level with or higher than sheets. 



Tlie United States and United Kingdom took approximately 

 equal shares of Ceylon-grown rubber, the two countries consum- 

 ing close to 95 per cent of the colony's entire rubber production. 

 (Commerce Reports Supplement, December 17, 1918.) 



"Rubber Machinery" by Henry C. Pe.\rson. 

 valuable information for rubber manufacturers. 



5 FILLED WITH 



Price $6. 



