TRADE IN KAURI GUM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 336, 23 April 1928, Page 10

TRADE IN KAURI GUM

SMALL PARCELS MOVING NEW YORK BUYING Quiet but steady trading is reported in kauri gum circles. London and New York buyers who ten years ago placed orders for 10 to 20 ton parcels now contract for one or two tons. This tendency is reported to be general. The bulk of the business at the moment is being done with New York, where the lacquer trades appear ready to absorb fair quantities provided the price is right. It must be remembered that producers in this Dominion have now to compete with cheaper grades from the Congo and other parts, where black labour is content with lower returns provided a turnover can be obtained. A slight reduction in prices for the Congo product is reported in recent advices from New York. Another factor which the kauri gum producer has to reckon with its the increasing use of synthetic gums. Exporters here may be inclined to scoff at any talk in this direction, but there is no doubt that synthetic gums are having a noticeable influence on the market for fossil gums. Writing under a recent date a prominent firm of New York importers mentioned, inter alia: —

“Esterised rosin is selling around 40s, and a synthetic gum called amberole, made on a German formula and which turns out a hard quick-drying varnish, has been getting the call over the higher-priced natural gums of late. The amberole sells at prices from 115 s to 120 s a cwt, New York.” Calculations of the lacquer interests in U.S.A. have been slightly upset during the past three months owing to the cancellation of contracts by the Ford Motor Co., which, for various reasons, has delayed getting production at its works up to full capacity; 100,000,000 dollars are estimated to have been lost to the various interests as a result, and the lacquer trade has suffered proportionately. Generally, the markets for kauri gums can be considered steady at late levels, with a quiet flow of inquiries for small parcels registered all the time. Tho demand from England and the Continent is not great, and the bulk of the business is going to New York.