S e p t . , 1912
T H E J o t - R S A L OF I.VDL’STRIAL AA-D ESGI-VEERIAVG C H E - U I S T R Y .
tion available, consists of the following, in barrels of 37 j pounds each : BARRELS. Green Island Cement Co. (Hongkong). . . . . . . . . . . Ciments P. A. de 1’Indo-Chine (Haifong). . . . . . . . Chee-Hsin Cement Co. (Tongshan, Tientsin). . . . . Hupeh Cement C o . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maximum output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
780,000 300,000 300,000 288,000 300,000 2,028,000
Competition with each other has prevented any one of the establisheents concerned in this eastern trade from running a t maximum capacity, and this is likely to be the case for sometime in the future. But, while competition has been and is likely to continue to be exceedingly keen, there appears to be no sound reason why all these plants shall not remain in the field. Each of these has more or less difficulties to overcome, but each has notable advantage either in the way of convenient and abundant supplies or unusually good shipping facilities, and all have cheap labor, fuel, and other supplies, and a constantly increasing demand for their product. It seems quite likely, therefore, t h a t the prospective increased demand for cement in China will be met with a complete and satisfactory supFly in or near China. Consul Stuart K. Lupton, of Karachi, India, states t h a t the cement trade of northrestern India is comparatively small, as may be seen from the accompanying table of imports for the past five years, which means practically the entire consumption in a district with a population of some 45,000,000 people: Year.
Casks.
Value.
1906-7. ....................... 1907-8 ........................ 1908-9........................ 1909-10... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9 1 ~ 1 ....................... 1
15,591 20,107
$38,126 51,934 59,181 83,390 75 579
22,729
36,497 33,095
I
Xost of the cement imported is of British manufacture. The brands chiefly used are Victor, Rhinoceros, Gillingham, Peters, Elephant, Red Cross, and Pyramid among the English marks, with Gladiator as the principal German brand. British cement is quoted by the manufacturers for March 23rd a t $ I . 9 j per cask, c. i. f. Karachi, and after paying a duty and handling charges is sold in smaller quantities to the consumer at $2.09 to $2.13 per cask. As freight rates from Great Britain are 20 to 2 j shillings ($4.87 to $6.08) per ton, this means that cement must be produced a t the shipping point for j o or 60 cents a cask to realize a profit. At the present time the Port Trust and the Karachi municipality are using about 1 , 2 0 0 casks of 400 pounds each every month; but this extraordinary work will soon close, and I a m credibly informed t h a t the average monthly consumption of cement for all purposes will be about zoo casks for the next eight months or a year. SULPHUR, PYRITE, AND SULPHURIC ACID. hlineral Resources of the United States, issued by the Oeological Survey, states t h a t the production of sulphur in the United States in 1911 amounted t o 265,664 long tons, valued a t $4,787,049, as compared with 2 55,534 tons, valued a t $4,605,112, in 1910. I n determining the value of most of the sulphur produced in 1911 the current market prices in New York were taken, from which the value a t the mine was then computed. It is estimated that the production for the year 1911 is very close to the present rate of consumption. Prices remained fairly constant throughout the year a t approximately $ 2 2 per long ton a t New York for prime Louisiana sulphur, and a t $ 2 2 . 5 0 a t Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Quotations on roll sulphur were from $I. 85 to $ 2 . I j per IOO pounds; for flowers of sulphur the range was from $ 2 to $2.40 per IOO pounds; and for sublimed sulphur i t was from $ 2 . 2 0
695
t o $2.60 per IOO pounds. Sicilian sulphur was held a t the same figure. I n 1911 there were imported for consumption into the United States 29,144 long tons of sulphur, including crude, refined, flowers of sulphur, and other kinds. This sulphur was valued a t $552,836. In 1910 the imports amounted to 30,833 long tons valued a t $558,611. The great bulk of the sulphur imported comes from Japan. In 1909 the United States exported 37,142 long tons of sulphur, valued a t $736,928; in 1910 the exportation amounted to 30,742 tons, valued a t $552,941; in 1911 the exports totaled 28,103 tons, worth $545,420. The production of pyrite in the United States in 191I amounted to 299,904 long tons, valued a t $1,162,261. This was an increase in quantity of 58,292 long tons and in value of $184,283, as compared with the production of 1910. The figures are also the maximum ever recorded by the survey for the pyrite industry. Though low-grade sulphide ores of copper containing considerable quantities of pyrite and pyrrhotite and zinc sulphide concentrates have been used in recent years in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, this condition of affairs does not seem to have curtailed the output of pyrite, as it was feared it might. As a matter of fact, the output of pyrite has shown a great increased ring the last five years, notwithstanding this was a period of rapid development by the by-product sulphuric-acid industry. It is estimated t h a t the quantity of sulphides other than straight pyrite used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid in 1911 was equivalent to 200,ooo long tons of pyrite, which would bring the tonnage of this mineral theoretically produced in 19I I up to nearly joo,ooo long tons. This does not include copperbearing Spanish pyrite used in making sulphuric acid. The importation of pyrite still greatly exceeds the domestic supply, as appears from the following statement of imports for consumption for the last three years: 1909, 688,843 long tons, value $2,428,580; 1910, 803,551 tons, value $2,748,647; 1911, 1,006,310 tons, value $3,788,803. For the first time in the history of the volume, Mineral Resources, published by the Geological Survey, a brief statistical statement is made by the sulphuric-acid industry. One of the reasons for adding the subject of sulphuric acid is that, owing t o the fact t h a t so large a percentage of the output of sulphur and pyrite is converted into acid for use in the industries, the acid production becomes in a way a check on the statistics of sulphur and pyrite, especially of pyrite, which is practically all used in the acid industry. The 1911 production of sulphuric acid in the United States aggregated 2,210,330 short tons, valued a t $17,369,8;1, as follows: j o o Baume, 1,026,896 tons, value $5,447,958; 60’ Baume 421,165 tons, value $2,624,042; 66’ Baume, 751,541 tons, value $9,176,297; other grades, 10,728 tons, value $ 1 2 1 , 5 7 5 . CHEMICAL INDUSTRY OF GERMANY. Consul General A. JI. Thackara, of Berlin, reports that xrith but few exceptions, conditions in the various branches of the German chemical industry during the year 1911 were most favorable. Heavy orders were received both for home and foreign consumption, and in many lines the prices for natural and artficial preparations were higher. The demands for drugs and chemicals were so large that the manufacturers of raw materials, such as acids, ammonia, etc., experienced great difficulty in filling their orders. There were especially notable increases in the demands for medicinal preparations on account of the numerous cases of illness, such as influenza, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and other ailments due to the heat of last summer. Many orders were received by the German manufacturers for disinfecting and other materials which were used in stamping out the plague in the far East. Luftsaltpeter or air saltpeter manufactured from nitrogen ex-
