A u g u s t 10, 1934
I N D U S T R I A L
AND
E N G I N E E R I N G
conservation, it is to be hoped t h a t the other n a t i o n s interested in whaling will provide corresponding restrictions for t h e activities of their whaling fleets; otherwise the Norwegian regulations will b e of no effect. J u l y 10, 1934
Japan's Rayon Industry K E I I T I SISIDO, K a w a r a m a t i Hirokôdi agaru, K y o t o T H E R A Y O N INDUSTRY of J a p a n has constantly expanded for the p a s t eight years at a pace which h a s surpassed the developm e n t of all t h e other manufacturing industries of the E m p i r e . At t h e end of 1926, t h e combined total output of rayon companies in t h i s c o u n t r y was 10 tons per day. Approximately t h e same year, however, new companies were promoted in rapid succession. T h e following year operations were begun which resulted in a sudden increase in o u t p u t . B y the end of 1928, t h e combined t o t a l production capacity of t h e then six leading companies— i. e., t h e Teikoku-Zinken, Asahi-Kensyoku, N i p p o n - R a y o n , T ô y ô - R a y o n , Syôwa-Rayon, a n d Kurasiki-Kensyoku—stood a t 27.5 t o n s , which rose t o 41.5 t o n s a t t h e end of 1929, a n d to 53 tons a t t h e end of 1930. I n view of t h i s rapid increase in production, the rayon m a r k e t became uneasy, with t h e result t h a t t h e members of t h e rayon companies' association agreed t o curtail their operation b y 10 per cent, beginning in November, 1929. This curtailment w a s maint a i n e d a t an increasing ratio, a n d in 1932 it a m o u n t e d t o 25 p e r cent. T h e curtailment, however, was riot q u a n t i t a t i v e restriction, because it was enforced in order to regulate t h e domestic supply. A r a y o n c o m p a n y could o p e r a t e at full capacity a s long as t h e surplus volume was sold a b r o a d under the compulsory export obligation. T h e rayon companies generally engaged in export t r a d e , with t h e result t h a t t h e actual restriction of output w a s r a t h e r small, a n d the export t r a d e made steady progress in spite of various barriers. I t was in t h e midst of t h i s situation t h a t the embargo wras placed on gold for t h e second time in J a p a n . T h e rayon companies lifted t h e operation curtailment b y degrees, on account of t h e r e m a r k a b l y favorable effects resulting from the gold b a n , until t h e restriction was entirely removed i n December, 1932. E x p o r t s m a d e a remarkable advance, thanks to t h e depreciation of t h e y e n exchange rate, while t h e market quotation of rayon y a r n a d v a n c e d a t a n accelerating pace, substantially improving t h e w r orking conditions of t h e rayon companies. R a y o n h a s no rival in point of the h e a v y margin of profit it yields. Moreover, because t h e Japanese enterprise does not dep e n d to a great extent on foreign supply of r a w materials, the adverse effect of t h e low exchange rate is correspondingly small. On t h e other h a n d , technical progress of t h e m a n a g e m e n t is almost endless, and t h e companies are operating o n an incompar a b l y sound basis, holding from 60 to 70 p e r cent of t h e profits within t h e company t o spend in the improvement of equipment, as well as in t h e extension thereof. As a result, t h e cost of p r o duction is constantly decreasing, giving rise t o larger profits. I t was u n d e r such circumstances t h a t the second phase of expansion s t a r t e d about two y e a r s ago, simultaneous with the gold embargo, a n d t h e expansion is still progressing. T h e production capacity, which stood a t a b o u t 70 tons per d a y at the e n d of t h e first half of 1932, rose t o 166 t o n s at the end of 1933. Moreover, since t h e beginning of this year, more factories were completed, a n d t h e outstanding combined total production capacity h a s reached 20S tons. T h e s e companies are still extending their p l a n t s and, u p o n completion of the work n o w in progress, t h e combined t o t a l daily o u t p u t wall exceed 250 t o n s . T h e situation is all t h e m o r e impressive since more t h a n 20 new companies are projected, with their respective new factories. W h e n all of these factories a r e completed, t h e combined t o t a l production capacity of t h e new companies will reach 56 tons of r a y o n a n d 47 t o n s of staple fiber. I t is in t h e face of such prospects t h a t t h e problem of overproduction h a s taken definite shape. T h e question is, when will t h e supply exceed consumption, rather t h a n whether production will exceed t h e d e m a n d .
N E W ITALIAN CHEMICAL P L A N T S THE
ITALIAN
MINISTRY
O F CORPORATIONS
has
granted
au-
thorization for t h e expansion of the following chemical p l a n t s :
A plant for the production of concentrated nitric acid and technical and fertilizer ammonium nitrate, and a plant at Bussi for the manufacture of metallic sodium. AMMONIA Ε DERIYATI, MILAN. Erection of a methanol plant in Sinigo, and a plant at Novara for the manufacture of urea. SOCIETÀ NAZIONALE CHIMICA, MILAN.
C H E M I S T R Y
279
Erection of a factory for higher aliphatic A plant for the production of metallic stéarates, oleates, linoleates, résinâtes, and toilet preparations. Rossi ELECTROCHEMICAL Co. A plant for the hydrogénation of hydrocarbons. STABILIMENTI DE RUMIANCA, TURIN. A plant for the production of naphthalene hydrogénation products. A. C. N. A. Co., MILAN. Plants at Cesano rvladerno for the production of accelerators and rubber chemicals of all kinds, for the manufacture of rhodamines, for the production of salicylic acid, benzoic acid, and triphenyl and tricresyl phosphates. ROMANO ΒΟΤΑΖΖΙ Ε FIGLJ.
alcohols in Bergamo.
SOCIETÀ CIPRA, PORTO RECANATI.
News of the Society Members Elected July 15 to August 1, 1934 CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
SECTION
Miller, Russell C.
de Castro, Edson Ghelardi, Robert A.1
CHICAGO SECTION
Hessle, Eric Th. Scott, A. B . 1 CLEVELAND
NORTHEASTERN SECTION
Addison, Henry Dale Rubinstein, David
SECTION
Orsino, Joseph A.
PITTSBURGH
Fitzgerald, J. L.
R H O D E ISLAND SECTION SECTION
Smith, Laxton Montgomery INDIANA SECTION
Meunier, Vincent C.1 Sprague, J. M.
L E H I G H VALLEY SECTION
Ehrhardt, Hugo MIDLAND SECTION
Poffenberger, Noland MILWAUKEE
SECTION
Shoemaker, Tom L. 1
DAYTON SECTION E A S T TENNESSEE
N"EW YORK SECTION
SECTION
Dittmar, Mabel E.
M un roe, Henry F. 1
1
V I R G I N I A BLUE R I D G E
SECTION
Schoenbaum, George H. WISCONSIN
SECTION
Johnson, Marvin J. NTo SECTION
Allen, Alfred James Bissinger, George H. Buhler, Theodore C. 1 Hude, Walter S. Pingrey, Katharine A. 1 1
Junior member.
COMMERCIAL RESEARCH AND T E S T I N G INDUSTRY C O D E TO R E C E I V E N O CONSIDERATION
LABORATORY MORE
PRESTON S. M I L L A R , chairman of t h e Code Committee of the Commercial Research and Testing Laboratory I n d u s t r y , reports t h a t he has been advised b y the N a t i o n a l Recovery Administration t h a t n o farther consideration can b e given t o t h e code for t h e commercial research a n d testing laboratory industry. This is t h e m a t t e r which led to the a p p o i n t m e n t of a committee on codes at t h e St. Petersburg meeting of t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY a n d to which a great m a n y consulting a n d research chemists found themselves in opposition when t h e full meaning of t h e definitions and implications in t h e code were understood. T h e fact t h a t t h e code is t o receive n o further a t t e n t i o n a n d is n o t t o be approved b y the Administration will bring a sense of relief to t h o u s a n d s in the profession.
ABSTRACTS OF CLEVELAISTD M E E T I N G PAPERS T H E A. C. S. N E W S SERVICE, 706 Mills Bldg., Washington, D . C , will be in position t o supply a limited n u m b e r of sets of the abstracts of papers presented a t t h e Cleveland meeting a t $1.00 a set. T h e abstracts will b e as furnished by the authors of papers, a n d will be mailed in mimeographed form very soon after t h e meeting. T h e sets are not guaranteed to be complete, b u t t h e y will cont a i n all abstracts obtainable from division secretaries u p to t h e time of t h e meeting. In order t o save unnecessary correspondence a n d t h e keeping of records, it is requested t h a t those desiring sets remit SI.00 with order.
