80 Report of Schimmel $ Co. April 1913. 



Peppermint Oil, Japanese. The market-position of the Japanese peppermint- 

 products, and especially of menthol, has been extremely interesting last winter, but 

 its interest has been equalled by the difficulty of forming an accurate view of the 

 probable future of these articles, which are of such importance in our industry. The 

 fact remains that the crop of 1912 has been a very good one, and that all the pre- 

 liminary data for a reduction in the values to a normal level would have existed, were 

 it not that the ordinary course of events was disturbed by speculative activity, which 

 provoked conditions making it exceptionally difficult, if not impossible, to form a judg- 

 ment of the true state of affairs. As was to be foreseen (and as we prophesied in 

 our last Report), the spot-prices of recrystallised menthol rose towards the beginning 

 of December to 90 oM, only to recede gradually to about 70 c4l towards the end of 

 the year and in January 1913. Throughout the period under review and at every price - 

 level, business was extraordinarily animated, because there has perhaps never been 

 a time when the ideas of the proper time for buying showed so much diversity. The 

 only disturbing factor in the turnover was the occasional sagging of quotations down 

 to 59 c4l per kilo, but these movements were of course of a mere speculative character, 

 and were mostly dictated by the universal stringency of money. As already stated, 

 these were only passing incidents, and at the present time the quotations still revolve 

 round the parity of 70 c4l, although within the last few weeks trade has become deci- 

 dedly duller. As we have said, it is impossible to foresee the future development of 

 the market. On the one hand the fact must be taken into account that a considerable 

 quantity of oil and crude menthol of the last crop is still awaiting shipment; on the 

 other it must be borne in mind that, as already hinted, a financially strong English 

 firm has recently judged it opportune to disturb the position by a speculative coup, 

 and has taken a large quantity of crude oil (about 150 000 lbs.) out of the market. 

 This action, as may be imagined, has caused a certain feeling of nervousness in the 

 circles affected by it. So far as the future course of prices is concerned, it is an 

 important question whether the principal consuming markets, Europe and the United 

 States, are so well supplied with menthol that they are not under the necessity of 

 covering any further requirements in Japan until the new crop is gathered, that is to 

 say in July/August, or whether the available stock will not last until then. It is reported 

 from several trustworthy sources that the good prices realised during the present 

 peppermint oil season have induced the Japanese to extend their plantations, but it must 

 be remembered that the success or failure of the plantations depends entirely upon the 

 climatic conditions in the summer and autumn, and that it is therefore inadvisable to 

 draw any conclusions as to the coming crop from this extension of the plantations. 



Reports that the Japanese Government intended to monopolise the peppermint- 

 production have proved to be unfounded. 



Japanese peppermint oil, which for many years has been handled in Japan only in 

 combination with crude menthol, has been much less affected than menthol by the 

 important price-fluctuations which the last-named commodity has experienced during 

 the , winter. The stock of Japanese peppermint oil held in Europe is so considerable 

 that the upward and downward movement of prices in Japan has hardly affected the 

 selling-prices, and consequently the commercial oils prepared from the Japanese oil 

 have remained unchanged in value. 



From an official communication 1 ) we abstract the following table showing the 

 value of the peppermint and peppermint oil produced in Japan during the last 10 years. 



L ) Finanz. u. wirtsc/i. Jahrbuclt f. Japan 12 (1912), 75. 



