Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-06-28
WOODRUFF
is STORED UP
Although there is Great De
mand for Print Paper,
Shipments are Restricted

SWeOen, June Ie.--
Although Ameri.
n%ewsprint paper, not less than 20O.-
900 tons Of woodpulp is stored at
Swedish ports awaiting sale or ship
mont and Swedish woodpulp manu-
facturers have agreed to restrict pro-
duction one-third. This means the
closing Of their mills Tor four months.
Much Of the pulp held in storage has
been bought and paid for by British
dealers. but c%ananot be delivered ow-
ing to the Swedish embargo on ship
ments of woodpulp to that country.
American buyers who have been
endeavoring to purchase the surplus
Of the Swedish mills have abandoned
the effort and all but n of them
have returned to the United States.
The one buyer still here says he is
doing no business and doubts whether
he will be able to do any in the near
future.
This is due to an extreme advance
in the price of woodpulp which has
increased in some cases to the equiva-
lent of $94.50 a ton. against a normal
price of about $3.50 at the mills.
Another eason is that the Swedish
government has demanded a guaran-
tee from every exporter that the pulp
shipped out of Sweden would be used
o!iiy III Tic country u oTieAudl oestiii-
alton. A deposit Of about $50 a ton
was required. this to be forfeited II
any of the pulp found its way into
another country. This was the final
straw that broke the back of the
Americans who were trying to do
business with Swedish pulp-makers
and they gave up the effort.
Buyer Returns Home.
There is no use Of trying to do any
more business under present condi-
lions and I am going home" declared
one foreign buyer for a large Ameri-
can woodpulp concern. II hazard the
prophecy that IL the war continues
and the present policy of the Swedish
ish woodpulp manufacturers will find
that the times when they sold Ameri-
ca upward Of 100. 900 tons Of pulp a
year are gone forever"
| Sweden was, for many years pre-
ceding the war, the most important
source for high class chemical ews
pulp exported to the United States.
France. England and Germany. The
United States imported 166.351 ton of
it in 1914 and made heavy contracts
for Its delivery in 1916, but the man.
ufacturers protested against filling
these contracts at the prices fixed and
in some cases more than doubled
them.
The American buyers at first de-
clined to pay the advanced prices and
negotiations were in progress when
the Swedish government in January
last placed the American importers at
the mercy Of the Swedish manufac-
turers by prohibiting exports of wood
pulp except by license. These Ii
lenses could be issued only to the SELL
ers of pulp, not to the buyers. and the
manufacturers refused to ask for
licenses unless the prices they de-
manded were p4id.
Some American buyers gave in and
met he advance. Then came another
blow. The Swedish authorities dis
covered that England was buying
Swedish pulp. in America. Spain. Italy
and France in order to circumvent the
Swedish embargo on the shipment of
w%oodpulp to that country. English
buyers were paying as high as 1925 a
ton. It was to prevent England from
making these purchases that the
Swedish government demanded the
guarantee that Swedish pulp would be
used in the country to which it was
first shipped.
Since the American buyers left the
Swedish market Germany may have
taken some Of Sweden's surplus but
the exact figures r not available.
The remainder is accommodating in
Swedish ports.