94 



COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



197flbs. =270 Rotoli = 2661bs. English = 121 kg. During the last 30 

 years the following fluctuations have taken place : 



1879 1880/82 1884/87 1890 1893 1894 1900/01 1905/00 1910 1911 



75 



68 



58 



51 



01 



41 



60 



54 



81 



85P.T 



To-day two-thirds of the cotton seed produced in Egypt are ex- 

 ported; one-sixth is used in Egypt as seed for sowing and for feeding, 

 and the remaining one-sixth is converted into oil in Egypt. In the 

 year 1906, for example, it is estimated that 750,000 tons of seed 

 were produced, 500,000 tons of which were exported, and 105,000 

 tons converted into oil in the seven oil mills which had been erected 

 in Egypt at that date. 



Cotton seed, the same as other products, is dealt in on the 

 Produce Exchange of Alexandria, and is quoted both for immediate 

 delivery, " loco " or " spot," and for future delivery up to the end 

 of August. 



November /January and February /March are the chief delivery 

 dates. 



In the wholesale business the prices of the different kinds of 

 cotton seeds are quoted without distinction, but seed emanating from 

 Upper Egypt is valued at 2 P.T. per ardeb less than the other quali- 

 ties. The quality " buona mercantile " forms the basis for the prices 

 for future contracts, excluding seed from Upper Egypt and Fayoum ;. 

 the prices are for the mechanically sieved ardeb of 270 Rottl net. 

 The seller is permitted to deliver a quality which may be 3 per 

 cent, lower or 2 per cent, higher than the quality stipulated, com- 

 pensation being made in either case in kind. The samples of 

 " buona mercantile " are fixed by a special commission from end of 

 October, at the end of each month for the succeeding month. Cotton 

 seed prices rise when the crops of olives and other cattle food crops 

 in Europe are bad, and are, also, dependent upon the rates of the oil 

 market at Hull. 



Cotton seed accounts for 7 to 9 per cent, of the total export trade 

 of Egypt, and shows the following development in volume : 



Regarding the countries which import cotton seed, France was 

 obliged in the sixties to yield the first place to England, which coun- 



