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“...Bombay yarn is to be noticed. Dealers are very
dissatisfied with the counts, qualities and weights of the Indian
commodity, which they declare is very much inferior to the Chinese
and Japanese productions. Reports are constantly received from
the interior complaining of the difficulty the retailers have in disposing
of the goods, with the result that the consumption of Indian yarn
is on the wane, whilst that of the Chinese and Japanese is improving
briskly, and were it not for the fact that the mills here cannot produce
in sufficient abundance to supply the requirements of China, the...”
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“...5 shanghai.
consumption of Indian yarn would be considerably less than it is.
During several months of the year under review there was a strong
demand for local yarn, which enabled the mills to earn very substantial
profits, and clearances were brisk. The Chinese cotton crop was
larger than the average, so that prices declined over 10 per cent,
in the autumn, when the crop was marketed, the high exchange having
made competitive buying for export to Japan (which at times is a
very large consumer of China cotton) quite impossible during most
of the year. The establishment of a local testing-house has materially
reduced the adulteration of cotton with water by the natives, but
the trade is still carried on under most unfavourable conditions owing
to indiscriminate mixing of good and bad qualities.
Opium.—The trade in Indian opium was seriously affected by the
numerous manifestations of the anti-opium crusade throughout the
country. In February the Chekiang authorities seized some packages...”
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“...7 shanghai.
of Japan coal, the other warships buying on the market either
Shantung or Japan coal as they may think fit. Of Australian coal that
comes now to this market the only description is Woolongong, which
is used exclusively for blacksmith purposes. The bulk of the stock
of Japan coal on December 30 last was under contract to the various
steamer companies and the mills, filatures and docks, and there was very
little good coal of this kind on the market for sale. Owing to a con-
siderable rise in freights and a shortage of supplies in Japan the prices
advanced considerably, and this advance in the price of Japan has
naturally led to a greater demand for Kailan coal. Pinghsiang coal
is of good quality, but the price is high compared with others, and
the mines have taken advantage of the rise in Japan to increase their
prices, with the result that some of the steamer companies who have
been in the habit of using a certain amount of Pinghsiang are now
taking extra supplies • of Japan...”
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“...of the steam filatures
fetch better prices than Japanese, but in America, which is
now the most important market for raw silk, the reverse is the
case, and where there is no difference in price the Japanese silk is
preferred.
Cotton.—The crop was a very large one, but owing to the limited
demand from Japan and Europe, which was to a great extent due
to the high rates of exchange ruling during the period under review,
prices in Shanghai were on a low level, to the great advantage of the
local mills. Business, moreover, with foreign markets is rendered
difficult as the cotton is press-packed into bales weighing 400 to
500 lbs., and the quality usually suffers owing to the watering of the
cotton and adulteration with unginned cotton and seeds which is
practised by farmers and dealers. The evil has, however, been modi-...”
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