Directory_and_Chronicle_1932 — Page 435

CHINA

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by approximately 100,000 tons, all other countries register decreases. The Panamanian flag once more appears as a visitor to China, but, for the same reasons as stated last year, no Russian vessels either entered or cleared from Chinese ports.

FREIGHT.

In reviewing the freight market for 1930 there is a proneness to forget that low prices for raw materials tend to react unfavourably on shipping, espe- cially in the cheaper grades of cargo, inasmuch as the freight at once assumes an undue proportion of the laying-down cost of export commodities at the port of discharge. At the same time most portage bills, upkeep costs, and running expenses represent a gold charge and cannot be reduced at will to meet fluctuations in commodity prices, while canal dues, which are an im- portant item, yet remain to be lowered. As regards freights to America, both to Pacific coast ports and to Atlantic coast ports via Panama and via Suez, there was more intensive competition among the various shipping companies for what cargo was offering than in any previous year on record. A number of new, large, and speedy vessels made their appearance on several of the lines operated by members of the established freight conferences as well as on those operated by non-conference companies, and the latter proceeded to offer rates far lower than those specified in the conference tariffs. These reductions were met by the conference lines and a rate-cutting war ensued, with the result that many rates reached utterly unremunerative levels, and, as an example, quotations for seamum seed to the Pacific coast fell to Gold $1.80 per short ton, as against Gold $3.50 per ton at the beginning of 1929, while raw silk was carried at Gold $1 per 100 pounds, against Gold $6.75, which was the established rate till the summer of 1929. On the European run also there was ample tonnage throughout the year, and, despite a number of reductions in rates in an endeavour to stimulate depressed markets and assist exporters, the demand for freight space remained at a low ebb. Among the more im- portant reductions were beans and peas, from 48s to 40s.; chinaware and por- celain, from 85s. to 66s.; rape seed, sesamum seed, and linseed, from 558, tɔ 468.; and goat skins, etc., from 90s. to 75s. ; the rate quoted in each case being per long ton. Quotations for raw silk to Marseilles and London and for tea remained unchanged throughout the year. During the first part of the year full cargoes, both inwards and outwards, were offering to and from Japan, and in the case of exports this continued till June, but from then onwards, with the exception of the last two months, when speculative importations in anticipation of increased Customs dutics engendered a brisk demand for space from Osaka and other Japanese ports, the freight market was apathetic, and the outlook at the end of 1930 for shipping companies generally was indeed a gloomy one. On the Yangtze River trade was conducted under exceptionally difficult conditions. Firing on merchant vessels frequently occurred and in- creased in intensity in the autumn. On the Ichang-Chungking run business was spasmodic throughout the season, and trade from February to April was seriously interfered will on account of a strike of Chinese pilots engineered by agitators. On the coast business was not marked by any special activity and, in the direction of Tientsin, was adversely affected by civil warfare, which restricted the movements of cargo. The most pressing need at the moment would appear to be the suppression of banditry, to which the Government is giving its serious attention, and, if successfully accomplished, this should result in restoring confidence and lead to a freer movement goods to and from in- terior marts.

RAILWAY.

The ambitious programme foreshadowed by the Government in 1929, which was to provide a network of railways practically throughout the country within the space of six years, has made little material headway, and it is only in the North that development can be reported. The construction of the Taonan

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