July 1, 1903.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. 
9 
ANNUAL REVIEW OP THE RUBBER 
MARKET FOR THE YEAR 1901. 
KRAMRISCH AND COMPANY., HVERPOOL AND LONDON. 
Dnrinj,' 1901 the Rubber Market has not beeu 
characterizsd by heavy or exceptional fluctuatioas ; 
it was again not a pai'Lioalarly satisfactory one for 
holiiera and importers of the leading grades, and 
although trade remained exceedingly active throughout 
the year, the values of all grades of Rubber at the 
close are less thau a year ago, and Fiue Para shows 
a further recession of 3d per lb, and other gi'ades 
in proportion. The bulk of the stocks of Mediums 
has gradually been exhausted, although it must be 
admitted that the prices realised were exceptionally 
low and showed an enormous loss to the importers 
or holders' and even the more recent imports were 
disposed of at prices which, not alone showed no 
protit, but in most instances the prices realised sho,v 
a considerable loss. The imports of important Medium 
grades have fallen off considerably, and as the 
enquiry has iuoreased for same wa do not anticipate 
a further appreciable decline iu values, as one 
ought certainly to advocate the enconragement of 
a substantial increase in the imports. 
As regards the quality of Para Rubber, considerable 
grievance was again caused by the want of care 
in the proper selection of these grades, especially 
from the Island districts, and this has led to numerous 
disputes amongst contracting parties. Trade in Great 
Britain and with leading Contiuental Rubber works 
was fairly good and the stocks of raw material at 
the factories is not large, and in spite of the fact 
that deliveries have been exceptionally heavy the 
reported consumption of Fiue Para exceeds that of 
previous years. The American market showed the 
position there not to be so strong except for the 
lirst few months, but generally speaking the Rubber 
tradahas been busy and the only important speculative 
stocks are held by one leading American house, 
whose position at the close of the year was considered 
very precarious. Visible supply now of Para and 
Peruvian is 4,618 tons against 4,100 tons last year. 
This includes" America with a stock of 2,005 tons 
against 1,200 tons last year. 
Should the demand for Para Rubber continue good, 
the statistical posiiiou at the end of 1901 is certainly 
a very healthy one. The total for the year's crop 
(from July 1st to December 31st) amount to 13,680 
tons, this means an increase of 2,400 tons, while 
against this the total increase of the visible supply 
gives us only about 480 tons, thus about 1,920 more 
tons have gone into consumption, Vai% despite the 
fact that it is well known that the ''invisible" 
supply is exceptionally small. Although grave liaan- 
cial difficulties were experienced by many holders 
of Rubber, the position of the Rubber market ia 
fairly sound, and with constantly increasing consump- 
tion, Rubber must be considered very reasonable at 
present quotations. 
Para Kinds. — At the beginning of the year we had 
to record a brisk enquiry to Para grades, and business 
on a large scale resulted, but, owing bo continued 
" bear" operations, prices quickly exhibited an imnor- 
tant recession, and while Hard Pine Para was quoted 
at the beginning of January at 33 lOJd, Soft at 
83 9d, Negroheads, Scrappy at 23 9Ad, I>land at 23 
13d, Oajietas at 23 4d, Peruvian JBall at 2s l^d, 
and Slab at 23 2d, prices declined rapidly during 
the latter portion of the first mouth, and saKs for 
forward delivery at a market decline were done on 
a large scale, with the result that prices for Paha 
grades receded about 3d per lb. by the end of the 
first three mouths. In America, Fine Paha was 
then sold as low as 3s 6d, Scrappies 23 6id, Island 
Is lid, Ball 2s 4d, and Slab Is lid per lb. We 
then began to receive the first advices from Para 
of probable shorts receipts, and some important 
buyers partly relying upon these reports bought 
large quantities, thereby causing considerable brisk- 
ness; this improvement was actively maintained for 
a few weeks, and as high as Ss lOd to 3s lid was 
paid for Fiue during the middle of April. Other 
sorts were 2d to 3d per lb. dearer. Soon afterwards, 
however, the market again showed signs of weakness, 
t'le demand being Gomewhat dragging, aud in July 
Hard Fine waT quoted at 33 Sd, Soft Ss 6d, but a 
temporary reaction in August resulted in quotations 
again reaching 3s lOd to 3s 9d. We have then had 
irregular declines of 2d per lb, and in November 
Hard Fino was as low as 3s 5jd, Soft 3s 3id, the 
lowest of the year. Additional cable advices from 
Para of probable shorts receipts during the end of 
the year aud the early mouths of 1902 brought about 
some recovery on less pressure to sell, and with very 
large deliveries and moderate receipts we close the 
year firmly with quotations of Hard Fme at 33 6J(3 
au'i Soft at 33 5f d. NEGRoHEADa continue to remain 
very scarce. Scrappy being quoted at 23 9d, Island 
(of which the greater portion is being shipped to 
America) 23 lid, Oametas 23 2d, Ball 2s 6d and 
Slab 23 O^d. The total amouut of blubber imported 
from Brazil shows a further increase of 3,200 tons 
aud the total quantity exported from the State of 
Amazonas, including Peruvian via Iquitos and 
Manaos, is 4,000 tons against 3.100 tons. The 
Peruvian Fine imported has we think been better 
as a whole, but owing to the Rubber having arrived 
in most cases uncut and unselected before shipment 
new rules had to be adopted iu order to provide for 
this altered mode of shipping this Rubber. The 
Peruvian Ball imported has not been up to the 
expected quality, and at the eud of the year the 
standard of fair average quality was considered lower, 
although some nice clean Hard Balls when received 
did realise fairly good, and in some cases exceptional 
prices. The Slab continues to be of good serviceable 
quality, and theoonsumption of it is certainly spreading. 
Bolivian kinds have been very fair, but the imports 
were not as large as last year. Mollendo again 
showed a remarkable improvement in quality, and 
consequently sold exceedingly well. From Venezuela 
via Orinoco the supply was less than last year and the 
quality not very attractive. 
Imports of Oeara Scrap are smaller, but of these 
grades only the best qualities could be sold easily, 
others are dragging. Of Manicoba kinds we received 
less, but quality was good, aad prices realised were 
satisfactory. Peknambuco aud Assaree qualities have 
somewhat improved, but owing to the general declma 
of the Rubber market, the values of these classes 
receded considerably. There were not very important 
arrivals of good Mangaberia, and although the stocks 
are considerably going down and available supplies 
very small, the prices realised for ordinary quality 
show an enormous falling oS iu price. The imports 
of Mattogrosso, in sympathy with Paba, showed 
similar fluctuations, although transactions were only 
spasmodic. Central Ajiekica has again been con- 
spicuous by a further considerable decline in its 
export of Rubber, probably owing to the continued 
political unrest existing in those parts, aud the only 
Rubber reaching us comes from the Columbia districts, 
but the quantities were very insignificant. Tha 
Equator and Guayaquil kinds sold readily, and tha 
prices at the end of the year are only about a Id 
lower than they were a year ago. Of course this 
refers to good qualities only. Inferiors and mixed 
kinds are much cheaper. The imports from Honduras, 
Miixico and Panama were likewise very small, 
Africans. — As expected at the close of the previoaa 
year, the increase in imports of these descriptiong 
was not only not maintained but showed a consider- 
able and serious falling off, and we estimate tha 
difference of imports from Africa to be about 2,000 
tons below that of last year. 
With the exception of slight spurts in April an^ 
again in August (in sympathy with Fiue Para,) tha 
year 1901 has beeu characterised by an uninterrupted 
decline ia African Rubber, the only exception being 
