INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
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Vol. 17, No. 3
Our Foreign Trade in Chemicals in 1924’ By Otto Wilson MUNSSY BUILDING,WASHINGTON, D. C.
NCE more, with the 1924 trade, has the United States definitely assumed its pre-war status of an importer rather than an exporter of chemicals and allied products. Throughout the war period our ports poured forth an unprecedented volume of chemicals and related manufactures, and our foreign purchases were correspondingly slender. But with the close of hostilities began the swing back to the old position, and in the last six years the tendency in that direction has been steady and marked. Exports have fallen. off rapidly in value, and imports, although fluctuating considerably, have been making substantial gains. I n 1923 imports and exports a t last came together, the United States in that year buying and selling chemicals to practically the same amount. I n the year just closed both imports and exports fell off, but, exports decreased by about 9.4 per cent in value whereas imports dropped only 1.4 per cent. For the first time in a decade the balance of trade was considerably against us, therefore, the excess running to about $10,000,000. Before the war, when our foreign trade totaled less than twothirds its present value, this adverse balance averaged about $37,000,000yearly. The import and export trade in “chemical and allied products” for the last six years, and the average before and during the war are shown in Table I.
0
Node-The term “Chemical and allied products” is the heading for Group 8 in the United States foreign trade statistics. It includes five subgroups: (1) chemicals (used in the restricted sense); &) paints, pigments, and varnishes; (3)fertilizers and fertilizer material; (4)explosives; and (5) miscellaneous chemical products. The subgroup “chemicals” covers coaltar products, medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations, acids and anhydrides, alcohols, compounds of ammonium, of potassium, and of sodium, lime, glycerol, and a few other items. Under the subgroup (5) are listed soaps, perfumeries, cellulose products, and blackings and polishes. Aside from Group 8 there are a few other classes of products, such as oils and tanning materials, which are related to chemical industries, and these have been included in the present review. Table I-Foreign
Trade of t h e United States in Chemical a n d Allied Products Imports Exports Balance of trade $ 87,971,000 $ 50 934 000 -$ 37,037,000
Year Average 1909-14’ Average 1915-19”
110,216,000
524:868:000
1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924
88,082,000 198,639,000 80,782,000 100,549,000 123,366,000 121,674,000
233,781,000 315,980,000 104,640,000 106,110,000 123,165,000 111,517,000
+ 414,652,000 ++ 145,699,000 117,341,000 + 23,858,000 + 5,561,000 -- 10,157,000 211,000
Fiscal years.
The decline in exports which was responsible for widening the gap last year was not confined to any particular subgroup but was in evidence all down the line. It was also not due merely to falling prices. Although in many cases prices fell off, nearly .all important commodities showed a drop in amount as well as in value of exports. Imports held up because of increases in imports of raw materials for domestic industries. The exnlanation mobably lies in the steady and
Table 11-U. S. Trade in Chemicals a n d Allied Products
-1923--
-1924-
Exports Chemicals Pigments paints, and varnisdes Fertilizer and materials Explosives Miscellaneous
Imports
Exports
Imports
$57,016,133 $47,100,597 $53,434,556 $43,122,633 16.551.725 ’
’
3.306.976 . .
14.326.200 . .
2.822.702 , ,
20,794,077 63,912,822 16,506,874 66,531495 7,679,677 875,513 7,415,569 957:911 8,169,948 19,833,387 8,239,404 21,113,727
Coal-Tar Products
Exports of coal-tar chemicals dropped rather sharply, from a value of $12,300,000 in 1923 to $9,976,000 last year. The decline was in crudes, the other two classes, intermediates and finished products, holding their own. The drop was due chiefly to benzene, only 57,800,000 pounds being sent to foreign countries in 1924 as against 111,300,000 pounds in the preceding year. Colors, dyes, and stains dropped from an export total of 17,900,000 pounds in 1923 to 15,700,000 pounds last year, but higher prices brought the total value up to a slightly better mark than in the previous year. Our sales of crude tar and pitch abroad were practically cut in two, amounting to only 269,000 barrels as against a 1923 trade of 514,000, but the value, $1,076,000, was only about 36 per cent below that of the year before. These three groups include the chief items of export under the heading “coal-tar chemicals.” Our purchases of coal-tar chemicals from abroad not only held the big gain which they registered in 1923, but materially increased it. We are now paying out more money for these articles than ever before. Since the war imports have been fluctuating considerably, as the figures in Table I11 show. Table 111-Imports Average 1909-14” Average 1915-19“
1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 a
of Coal-Tar Chemicals $14,278,000 10,683,000 6 582 000 12:985:000 11,226,000 11,013,000 17,274,000 20,119,000
Fiscal years.
The 1924 gain, however, was due very largely to a single item, creosote oil. Our total purchases of that article amounted to 89,680,000 gallons, valued a t $13,400,000, which compares with 64,000,000 gallons valued a t $10,000,000in 1923. By far the largest part of this heavy importation came from England. Imports of “colors, dyes, stains, color acids, and color bases” increased about 5 per cent, the 1924 figures being 3,433,946 pounds valued at $4,469,456. The largest gain mas that from Switzerland, 30 per cent. Imports from Germany increased 6 per cent. I n 1922 our purchases of these items ran to more than $4,700,000. Medicinals and Pharmaceuticals
I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
March, 1925
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The valuations, it must be remembered, are for the portlof export, and do not include cost of freight, insurance, etc. Purchases of fertilizers included in the potash group decreased somewhat last year, 632,000 tons being imported as compared with 665,000 tons. Germany continues to lead in In the trade in acids and anhydrides American purchases this trade, sending us about 54 per cent of the total in 1924 normally far exceed sales, and last year was no exception. By as in 1923. France followed with nearly 40 per cent, a confar the most important import was white arsenic, the 17,700,- siderable gain over 1923. As usual in recent years the latter 000 pounds of which represented a 2,600,000-pound decrease country leads in the trade in kainite, with Germany holding from 1923. The chief export item was sulfuric acid, 11,000,- the advantage in muriate of potash, crude sulfate, and manure 000 pounds, or 3,000,000 pounds more than last year. Ex- salts. Our sales abroad of phosphate rock fell off slightly last ports of alcohols, chiefly methanol, dropped to $900,000 from year, totaling 864,000 tons as against 869,000 in 1923, the the 1923 figure of $1,400,000. decrease occurring in high-grade hard rock. There was a Other “Chemicals” much greater falling off in shipments of our most important Of the remaining items under the subhead “Chemicals” export material, sulfate of ammonia. In 1923 this trade the chief imports were the sodium compounds, particularly totaled 153,677 tons having a value of $11,118,000, whereas cyanide, of which we bought nearly 30,000~000pounds, last year it amounted to only 118,000 tons valued a t $6,918,slightly more than in the year before. The chief potassium 000. The drop was due almost entirely to a decline of nearly compound imported was argols, 16,700,000 pounds. Glycerol $4,000,000 in the trade with Japan and of $760,000 in that imports increased about 5 per cent, amounting to about with Hongkong. 16,000,000 pounds valued a t $1,700,000. Explosives I n the export trade the sodium group formed one of the Since the big year of 1920, when ~0,000,000worth of biggest items of the whole chemical trade, sales running to 315,000,000 pounds valued a t $8,500,000, although this was explosives were sent abroad, the trade has been fluctuating 20 per cent less than in 1923. As usual caustic soda enjoyed between $2,000,000 and $3,500,000 annually. I n 1923 it amounted to $3,500,000, and in 1924 to $2,900,000. Our the greatest demand chiefly by Mexico, Cuba, and Canada. chief export item is dynamite, which makes up 75 per cent Pigments, Paints, and Varnishes of the total. Imports were only about $950,000, a small gain This is a field in which the United States figures chiefly as over the year before. an exporter. Our sales of prepared paints and varnishes Soaps and Toilet Preparations amounted to $14,326,000 in 1924 and our purchases to only The very considerable export trade which our manufactur$2,800,000. Both were less than in 1923. Exports in this line fluctuate considerably. Ready-mixed paints represent ers of soaps and toilet preparations have built up continued the strongest foreign demand, but there is also a steady and a t a good level last year, 87,900,000 pounds, although lower strong market for carbon and lampblack. Cuba, n/lexico, by 8 per cent than in 1923. The largest item from year t o and Argentina are our biggest buyers of paints, and England year is laundry soap, Mexico being the chief buyer. England and Canada of lampblack. But for both lines the trade is is our best customer in the trade in toilet soaps, although in both grades the exports are widely scattered. American widely scattered. Our foreign purchases consist mainly of mineral earths and dentifrices continue t o grow in favor abroad, and last year chemical pigments. The largest single class consists of litho- we sent to all parts of the world $2,800,000 worth as against $2,439,000 worth in 1923. pone and zinc pigments.
heading “All other;” but inquiry shows that it is made up of patent and proprietary medicines, European countries being the chief buyers. Acids and Anhydrides
Fertilizers
Tanning Materials
Dominating all other fertilizer materials brought from abroad is, of course, Chilean nitrate. Last year’s trade showed that the tendency toward heavier and heavier importations since the war is still going strong. In 1924 sodium nitrate shipments, nearly all from Chile, reached their highest point since the war, except for the abnormal year 1920. It is evident that the war-time development of nitrogen fixation in this country has not brought about any permanent displacement in the Chilean trade. We are now bringing in a tonnage of nitrates greater by 80 per cent than the arerage pre-mar importation, and that average, if the present rate of increase holds, will be almost doubled in another year. Our contributions to the prosperity of Chilean nitrate producers now amount to nearly $50,000,000 a year-three times that of the annual pre-war figures. Comparative figures show the post-war advance in this trade (Table IV).
In the 1924 trade in extracts and other tanning materials the significant feature was a drop in value of quebracho imports, both wood and extract. Since the close of the war this has been a widely fluctuating trade so far as actual quantities used were concerned, although there has been for the most part a steady falling off in total value (Table V).
Table I\’-Imports Year Average 1910-14a Average 1915-1ga 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924
Fiscal years
of Sodium Nitrate
Tuns 546,000 1,173,000
T o t a l value $17,615,000 46,215,000
407,000 1,322,000 369,000 542,000 892,000 987,000
19,359,000 63,121,000 17,983,000 26,153,000 41,956,000 47,169,000
Value per ton $32 26 39 40 48 47 48 48 47 47
05 74 i4 25 03 80
Table V-Imports QCEBRACHO
Year
Pounds
of Quebracho Extract and Wood EXTRACT QUEBRACHO WOOD Value
Tons
Value
Quebracho extract is probably consumed more evenly than it is imported, the surplus of one year serving to offset the deficit of the next. The trade is, of course, also affected by the alternating periods of prosperity and depression through which the leather industry has passed. Competition from the extract made from imported logs is also a factor, although a minor one, last year’s imports of logs equaling about 10,000,000 pounds of extract, or only one-ninth of the imports in powder form. Our chief export tannage is chestnut extract, which with other vegetable and chemical extracts amounted to 31,700,000
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IXDCTSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
pounds valued a t $1,400,000 in 1924, about the same as in 1923, Mineral Oils Kever before have foreign countries drained away so much oil from American soil as in 1924. We shipped abroad last year 4,661,600,000 gallons of mineral oils, including crude petroleum, receiving for them $418,000,000. Only in the year of inflated prices, 1920, has the total value been greater. Exports last year were 18 per cent higher in quantity than in 1923 (Table VI).
A significant feature of the trade in 1924 was that the average valuation per pound was less than in the year before, and the total amount which Americans had to pay for their rubber was lower than in 1923, even with heavier shipments. Doubtless the energetic action of the Government, working with rubber consumers, had much to do with this result. Prices in 1924 ruled comparatively low, the average monthly wholesale price for Para Island in New York being less than 20 cents during the greater part of the year. In 1923 it was 24.9 cents, in 1922, 18.3cents, and before the war, in 1913, it, was 80.7 cents.
of Mineral Oils i n 1923 and 1924 1923-Value 716,552,000 3,270,638,000 845,894,000 847.929.000 1,228,594;OOO 345,421,000
Table VI-Exports
Gallons
Petroleum, crude Refined mineral oils, total Gasoline. naphtha, and other light ~.products Kerosene Gas and fuel oil Lubricating oil
By far the greater part of the crude petroleum shipments remain on this side of the world. Canada alone takes 60 per cent and more of our exports, and most of the rest goes to Cuba, Panama, Mexico, and Argentina. England and Germany together take about 5 per cent, and Japan last year took slightly less. In the trade in gasoline, naphtha, and other light products Europe figures heavily. England leads with 31 per cent, followed by France with over 20 per cent. Canada, Australia, Belgium, and Italy follow in that order. Our sales of kerosene, while approaching a billion gallons, are still considerably short of the pre-war average of 1,055,O00,000 gallons. China with 146,000,000gallons and England with 140,000,000 led the field last year, as in 1923, and no other country even approached them in amount of purchases. The popularity of oil for use a.s a fuel and in making gas continues to grow, and exports of oils for these purposes reached record heights in 1924. The trade is well divided among the leading countries of the world, with Chile, England, Panama, Japan, Canada, and Mexico leading, in that order, in 1924. Besides actual exports of this oil, vessels in foreign trade loaded into their bunkers last year 43,000,000 barrels. Of the lubricating oils England normally takes about onefourth, as last year.
Vol. 17, KO.3
--_ _ _ _ 1924--
Gallons
Value
The imports of crude rubber in recent years are shown in Table VII. Table VII-Imports of Crude Rubber Year Pounds Value Average 1910-14" 105,736,000 $ 86,345,000 Average 1915-19' 313,088,000 157,626,000
a
1919 1920 1921 1922
535,940,000 566,546,000 415.283.000 674,410;OOO
21 5,820,000 242,796,000 73.773.000 101;843;000
1924 1993 Fiscal years
$92,483,000 I 35,980,000
174,245,000 186,060,000
Only about 2 to 4 per cent of this crude rubber now comes from Brazil, the British and Dutch possessions in the East supplying nearly all the remainder. Out of the 736,000,000 pounds total, over 472,000,000 pounds, or almost two-thirds, came direct from British colonies, and 133,000,000 pounds, or 18 per cent, from those of the Dutch. About 85,000,000 pounds credited to the United Kingdom are also to be assigned to the East Indies. While the total shipments of Amazon rubber last year showed an increase of about 3,000,000 pounds over the 26,000,000 pounds of 1923, the value fell off, and the average export price, as indicated by the statistics, was only about 18 cents. This is indeed a tremendous fall from the $2 and Other Oils more of the days before the great flood of plantation rubber Although our imports of vegetable oils fell from $64,686,000 came pouring on the market. Only the most accessible of in 1923 to $59,507,000 in 1924, the chief item, coconut oil, the wild trees can be worked a t this price, and there is no gained over 20 per cent. Olive oil imports were about the prospect of a revival of the once flourishing Brazilian industry same as in 1923. In the export trade the chief item, cotton- until it is demonstrated that plantations can be operated a t a seed oil, registered 43,000,000 pounds, a drop of about 12 per profit there as well as in the East. Mexico sent us 3,000,000 pounds of guayule, a rubber cent. Animal and fish oils, fats, and greases, chiefly lard, went having certain special uses, in 1924, the value amounting to t o foreign countries last year to the extent of 1,225,000,000 more than half a million dollars. Nearly 14,000,000 pounds pounds, a slight falling off, due in part to a decline of some of jelutong were also imported and l,O00,000 pounds of balata. 9O,OOO,O00 pounds in lard shipments. Among the other resins, shellac is the principal item of Among t.he essential oils, imports of which ran to about $5,500,000, citronella and lemon grass continued to lead. import, the 1924 figures being 24,553,000 pounds valued a t $13,139,000, a very decided drop from 1923, when 38,447,000 The total trade was about $200,000 less than in 1923. pounds having a value of $22,955,000 were brought from abroad. Damar and kauri, the two other important varnish Rubber, Gums, and Resins bases, also declined, the former about 30 per cent and the The automobile continues to call for more and more tires, latter nearly 50 per cent in value. Our imports of crude chicle dropped from 8,327,000 pounds and the country continues to draw more and more heavily on the tropics for the rubber with which to meet the demand. in 1923 to 7,919,000 pounds last year. Camphor, which Crude rubber last year came through our ports in greater marked up a total of 7,488,000 pounds in 1923, last year came volume than ever before. Since the close of the war these in to the extent of only 4,700,000 pounds, a drop of nearly 40 per cent. imports have increased 40 per cent.
