OVERSEA TRADE 259 



the port of Rosario is 410,000 tons entries and 375,000 

 tons clearances for interior navigation, and 1,100,000 

 tons entries and 1,824,000 tons clearances for navigation 

 abroad. 



According to Repossini's calculations the tonnage 

 of exports on the lower Parana south of Santa Fe 

 rose in 1910 to 4,000,000 or 4,500,000. The imports, 

 almost entirely confined to Rosario, were about a 

 fourth of this figure. For the middle and upper 

 Parana, Repossini estimated the volume of the traffic 

 at 800,000 tons, of which quebracho was two-fifths. 



The navigation of the Parana is one of the chief 

 sources of the prosperity of Buenos Aires. Even if 

 the development of the import trade at Rosario or 

 Santa Fe is partly at the expense of the capital, and 

 the boats laden with cereals do not stop at its quays, 

 still the coasting traffic on the river is in great part 

 meant for Buenos Aires. In returning, rather than go 

 empty, the boats take cargoes of European products 

 bought from the Buenos Aires importers. By means 

 of the Parana the import-trade sphere of influence of 

 Buenos Aires reaches beyond the frontiers of Argentina, 

 as far as Paraguay and part of Brazil. Buenos Aires 

 is, moreover, the main centre for equipping the steam- 

 boats of the river. Its capital dominates the Parana. 

 Lastly, the Parana supplies it with an export freight 

 which must not be overlooked. It is at Buenos Aires 

 that the hides, tobacco and timber and extracts of 

 quebracho for oversea markets, shipped on schooners 

 in the upper reaches of the river which are impassable 

 for steamers, are trans-shipped for abroad. 



440,000 in ballast ; clearances, 4,000 tons. The difference between 

 the entries and the clearances represents ships starting straight for 

 Europe. 



