38.2
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As a general principle, it may be stated that the difficulties with regard to 1, 2 and 4 have been overcome, but our tin linings are inferior to those of the United States. This matter has been taken up strongly with manufacturers at home, and it is hoped that a change will shortly be made. As has been previously stated the sale of tinplate in Japan is in the hands of a comparatively few firms, the most important being Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha, Iwai & Co., and Sale & Co., and a firm of manufacturers giving an agency to any particular one of the above mentioned, runs the risk of giving grave offence to the others.
The only satisfactory method of conducting business in Japan is to have a representative whose business should be to canvass firms frequently, obtaining orders through existing channels, but by his efforts stimulating business and diverting it to the proper quarters. Wherever possible, with- out giving offence, buyers should be induced to purchase direct, but this would undoubtedly take time. The purchase of tinplate through existing channels has the advantage of relieving firms to a large extent of financial responsibility.
The fact that the Japanese have 2 strong bent for imitation, would lead one to suppose that in the course of time they will manufacture their own tinplate on a greater scale than is being done at present. Already a very passable plate is being produced at Yawata, and projects are under consideration for the establishment of an additional tinplate works based on the collective practice of the best Welsh, American and German design. This factor should not be overlooked when considering development of trade in Japan, and consideration should be given to the fact that tinplate imports are likely to ultimately decrease rather than increase, although the consumption may rise.
There are two points which should be emphasised:
Firstly. A great deal of harm has been done to the tinplate trade by the selling of "merchant brands " (that is to say, a merchant who has received a contract for perhaps 20,000 boxes of tinplate, purchases from five to six different works, puts his own brand on them and sends them out to Japan). It will at once be seen that it is impossible to obtain equal quality under these conditions, and this has been one of the chief complaints made against us.
It is difficult to know how to overcome this difficulty, as merchants naturally are not eager to give manufacturers the names of their customers, or to allow their customers to know the source of supply in case direct business follows but, unless tinplates are sold under works' or manufacturers' brands, it will be impossible to obtain the high standard of quality necessary.
Secondly. The necessity for driving home the principle of reciprocal trade. For example, most of the tinned salmon and crab packed in the Kamchatka Peninsula is sent to England and is either sold there or distributed therefrom, but it goes to England packed in American tinplate. Now that we are able to give a quality equal to that of America, and at a competitive rate, there is no reason why this should continue. Firms at home purchasing canned marine products, should be asked to stipulate that in return for the business given to Japanese and the financial facilities offered by British houses, all canned marine produce going to England should be packed in British tinplate.
CHINA.
During 1929, 72,000 tons of tinplate were imported into China, repre- senting a value of approximately £1.44 million. Of this, 45,000 tors are consumed by the oil companies, such as the Asiatic Petroleum Company (North and South China), the Standard Oil Company, the Kwang Hwa
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Company, and the Industrial and Commercial Oil and Refining Company, 5,000 tons are used by the egg produce firms, such as the China Egg Pro- duce Co., DWO, Behr & Matthew, the Henningsen Egg Produce Co., and International Export, with factories at Shanghai, Nacking, Hankow, Tsingtao and Tientsin; 13,000 tons are used for general canning of meat, vegetables, biscuits, fruit, fish, etc., and 9,000 tons by the British-American Tobacco Co., and various native tobacco concerns. These figures are for China, including Hongkong.
In comparison with the other figures, the 13,000 tons for general canning may seem small, but it should be remembered that most of the locally made biscuits, sweets, etc., are packed in old kerosene tins boiled out and cleared, and fitted with a circular “ press on "lid. They are also much used for the lining of wooden cases for various packing purposes, roofing, and almost universally by tin-smiths manufacturing all sorts of tinned ware. In addition to this all local traffic in ground nut and wood oils for varnish is done in old four-gallon kerosene tins, while such oils are exported in bulk or in steel drums.
Of the 72,000 tons mentioned, about 40 per cent. to 45 per cent. is of British origin, the remainder coming from the United States. The same faults as have been attributed to British tinplate in Japan also apply in China, and the period of change over from British to American sources of supply dates to about the same period as has been previously described.
The chief centres of business for tinplate in China are Shanghai, Hong- kong, Hankow, Tientsin, Canton, Nanking and Swatow, and to a less degree Tsingtao, Amoy and Foochow. Shanghai acts as a centre of distri- bution, up the Yangtze north to Weihaiwei, and has influence as far south as Swatow. Hongkong acts as a distributor for Macao, Canton and to a certain extent Swatow, Amoy and Foochow, but owing to the difference in the Hongkong and Shanghai exchanges, most of the goods not directly imported to these three places come from Shanghai.
When conditions are more peaceful, Hankow would do most of her own importation direct during the highwater period, May to September, as ocean-going steamers of 12,000 to 15,000 tons can get there at that period. A certain amount of material from Hongkong goes to Formosa, to those Chinese firms who are allowed direct trading facilities by the Japanese.
The unsettled conditions which prevail generally and especially round Hankow in the Honan and Hupeh areas, and in and around Canton ex- tending to Swatow, have produced a feeling of nervous uncertainty among traders, and have restricted enterprise and extension of businesses at a time when China is rapidly awaking and should commerce to take her place among the traders of the world. Had she been at peace, internal communications, both road and rail, would have been rapidly opened up, with a consequent beneficial effect on trade generally. The railways, espe- cially around Nanking and Hankow, having been used practically entirely for military traffic, have been let go to rack and ruin, with the result that trade in those areas is practically at a standstill.
Unlike Japan, the tinplate trade in China is in the hands of a very large number of firms, all competing against each other and very few conversant with the technicalities of the trade. The evil of the "merchant brand" is even more pronounced in China than it is in Japan. Some native firms even go to the length of purchasing wasters, taking off the waster mark and substituting "prime." The result of this is that British firms suffering in this way, have got the name of selling an inferior prime to that of America, and manufacturers at home should be warned that it would pay them in the long run to so brand their products that it would be im- possible to erase the distinguishing marks. It is also suggested that every box of tinplate has inside the tin lining a printed slip stating the grade, i.e., prime, waster, or waste-waste.
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