Directory_and_Chronicle_1941 — Page 395

SHANGHAI

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soap, oils, fats, waxes, gums, and resins; tobacco; chemicals and pharmaceuti- cals; and sundries, increases at over $10 million each were recorded. Other items showing increases of comparative importance were wool and manufactures' thereof; dyes, pigments, paints, and varnishes; metals and ores; silk (including artificial silk) and manufactures thereof; and timber.

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In the case of exports, all groups with the exception of two-i.e., tea, and oils, tallow, and wax-registered large increases as compared with the previous. year. The group textile fibres, valued at $158 million, principally silk, headed the list of increases with $120 million, equivalent to about one-third of the total net increase of $369.5 million. The three groups animals and animal products; yarn, thread, plaited and knitted goods; and piece goods shared another one- third of the total increases, and the remaining one-third was divided among some 20 headings, chiefly cereals and cereal products; sundries; other textile products; ores, metals, and metallic products; hides, leather, and skins (furs); and chemicals and chemical products. As regards the decreases, totalling some $2 million, reduced exportation of tea, mostly to Morocco, was responsible for $1.5 million..

It is interesting to note that while the value of imports of cereals and flour, totalling over $41, million in 1939, was nearly four times the total for the previous year, the value of exports of cereals and cereal products, aggregating nearly $22 million during the year, was over seven times that for 1938. In the former case the large increase was due to heavy imports of Australian and American wheat valued at some $30 million, which did not appear in the trade returns for the previous year. Increased shipments of wheat flour to the Kwantung Leased Territory, of bran, wheat, and seed-cake to Japan, and of other cereal products to Formosa were accountable for the enormous gain in exports.

At the beginning of the year the price of rice was officially fixed at $14 per picul of the first grade. The foreign exchange restriction and the subsequent alleged manipulation of holders of large ready stocks enhanced the quotation to $21 in June. Utter confusion reigned early in August, with the price of the first grade soaring to $35. After a slight improvement in September the price advanced again and moved up to around $40. For a time in October the mar ket price eased and went down to as low as $26, but before the end of the year the quotation again advanced sharply and reached the record of $48. A maxi- mum price of $40 was in consequence fixed by the municipal authorities, and a proclaination was issued to the effect that rice hoarders and profiteers would be expelled from the foreign-administered areas.

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The rapid rise in prices of many commodities in use in Shanghai factories introduced new difficulties into a situation already suffering from adverse ex- change. Speculation in certain raw materials caused prices to move erratically and rendered genuine factory purchases difficult. The high price of fuel con- tributed further to the embarrassment of many enterprises. Silk filatures in the Settlement, however, were able to make large profits during the year because of the sharp rise in prices in both the local and foreign markets. Although the shortage of native-grown cotton forced mills to cover their requirements in foreign growths during the greater part of the year, they were more or less fully occupied and managed to earn the largest profits in their history on account of the large increase in the prices of yarn and cloth attributable to scarcity of textiles in the interior and to inflation resulting from the declining value of the dollar. Rubber shoe factories were greatly affected by the advance in price brought about partly through the restriction in the export of rubber from Malaya, and currency restrictions in British colonies acted against the export of gourmet powder and some other commodities. The cigarette business had improved considerably, due principally to increased output of Japanese