July, 1910.] 



15 



Fibres, 



principal importing countries being 

 England, United States, Switzerland, 

 and Austria, in the order named. The 

 American imports reached 2,922 tons, 

 valued at $500,121, as compared with 

 $855,486 in 1908, and $143,044 in 1907, 



There is no important duty on the 

 cake. The oil is dutiable at three francs 

 per 100 kilos ($0-579 per 220-4(5 pounds) 

 under the general tariff, and at 1 franc 



(19 - 3 cents) under the minimum tariff. 

 There is no export duty. This industry 

 appears to be entirely free ; manu- 

 facturers and dealers both state that 

 there is no agreement whatever among 

 the crushers toward the control and 

 regulation of prices. 



[The names of the Marseilles copra 

 oil and coco-butter manufacturers are 

 on file in the Bureau of Manufacturers.] 



FIBRES. 



DUNDEE STAPLE TRADE. 

 Chamber President and the Outlook. 



Hopeful, Signs. 



(Prom the Dundee Advertiser, 31st 

 December, 1909.) 



The position of the trade of Dundee 

 was discussed at length by the Presi- 

 dent, ex-Lord Provost Longair, at the 

 quarterly meeting of Dundee Chamber 

 of Commerce yesterday. He gave in- 

 teresting details regarding the business 

 for the year, and spoke in hopeful 

 terms of the future of the trade. The 

 question of the New Year holidays was 

 also raised, and the Directors were 

 asked to consider and report on the 

 question of taking them at Christmas. 



The Jute Forecasts. 



The President, moving the adoption 

 of the minutes for the quarter, said it 

 would be agreed that nothing very 

 startling or eventful had taken place 

 in the local trade during the year about 

 to close. While there had been suffi- 

 cient variety of circumstance to fulfil 

 ardently cherised hopes, many expecta- 

 tions still remained unrealised. The 

 first half of the year was seriously in- 

 fluenced by a continuauce of the per- 

 plexities of its predecessor, which was 

 caused by universal trade depression, 

 and in large part by the unfortunate 

 and misleading official statement of the 

 probable jute supply for the season 

 1908-9. The crop was finally estimated 

 at 6,360,800 bales, whereas the actual 

 out-turn reached 7,854,420, 1,500,000 in 

 excess of the forecast. In result a com- 

 paratively low level of prices kept the 

 whole season's trade in a state of drag- 

 ging uncertainty. After giving details 

 of the prices during the year, he said 

 there were many indications that stocks 

 of manufactured goods were small, and, 

 under an improving demand, values in 

 all departments would probably mark 



a sharp advance in the coming year. 

 A predominating factor in this section 

 of the trade had, as usual, been raw 

 material. The first estimate of the year 

 1909-10 jute crop was given as 7,365,870 

 bales, and the revised estimate in Sep- 

 tember at 7.205,530, but the large quan- 

 tity already received, making total 

 arrivals in Dundee since 1st January 

 1,082,947 bales (plus two cargoes recently 

 come to hand), of which 548,838 is new 

 crop, seemed to justify the fear that 

 the disappointing experiences of last 

 year were not unlikely to be repeated. 

 It should be remembered that the re- 

 quirements of the trade, under full 

 working conditions, were estimated at 

 about 9,000,000 bales Unfortunately for 

 the trade the qualities of the native 

 first marks and lower grades of jute 

 of this season's crop were very disap- 

 pointing, and besides, arrivals had re- 

 vealed considerable heart damage, aris- 

 ing from excessive moisture at the time 

 of baling. This excessive moisture had 

 not only caused serious internal damage 

 in the jute, but had been the cause 

 of very considerable ship damage in 

 several of the vessels that had arrived, 

 which, of course, meant serious loss to 

 the trade. It was fair to remark, how- 

 ever, that the higher marks and finer 

 qualities of jute from the Dacca dis- 

 tricts had been good and satisfactory, 

 alike in quality and condition. A 

 strong remonstrance had been put for- 

 ward to Calcutta by the Dundee and 

 London Associations regarding the ques- 

 tion of moisture, and also complaining 

 of the unsatisfactory assorting of native 

 jute, which, it was to be hoped, might 

 lead to marked improvement for the 

 future. With regard to the serious dis- 

 crepancy in the recent forecasts the 

 matter is of such importance to all 

 connected with the trade, and not the 

 least to the Government of India itself, 

 that more care ought to be taken to 

 ensure greater accuracy in forecasting 

 the crop. Let it be kept in mind that 



