THE RUBBER TRADE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 17, 11 April 1927, Page 2

THE RUBBER TRADE

BRITISH EXPORTS INCREASING AMERICA’S STRONG POSITION Out of a total of 2,400,000 tons of crude rubber distributed to manufacturing countries during the six-year period from 1920 to 1925 inclusive, the United States of America took over 71 per cent: France. 5 per cent: Germany, 6 per cent; the United Kingdom, 5 per cent; Japan, 4 per cent; Canada, 3 percent; Italy, 2 per cent; Russia and Belgium, each under 1 per cent; and the. rest of the world under 2 per cent.

Britain is making steady progress in the export of rubber goods, however, according to Sir William Clark, Comp-troller-General of the Department of Overseas Trade, England, and is gaining on foreign competitors. The principal tyre manufacturing countries are the United States, France. Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy Germany and Japan. The production of the United States is over SO per cent of the total world production, but in the matter of exports France by a small margin holds the lead. In 1925 the United Kingdom exported tyres to the value of £4.000,000 and had no reason to be ashamed of the progress she had made in the tyre trade, or of her position in the world market. Despite the adverse factors which had affected all British industries in the year just ended, the value of Britain’s total exports of tyres had increased by another half-million pounds. The exports of rubber insulated electric cables had increased from £442,000 in 1923 to £1,581,000 in 1926. The value of United Kingdom exports of rubber waterproofs was £715,000 in 1913, £955,000 in 1924, and £940,000 in 1925, and the value of rubber sports goods during 1920 to 1925 rose from £350,000 to £550,000.