Evening journal., 1921-10-20
GERMANY'S DYE
TRADE In STRONG
RECOVERY
Many Markets Lost During the
War Are Being Regained
Rapidly


BERLIN, Germany. August TO-
During the war, the leaders of the
German dye industry feared that
after the conflict they would find the
International dye market in the
hands of their competitors. regard
lss of which side won. With appre-
hension, they witnessed the prosIess
of the dye industry in England.
America, Japan and the neutral Eu-
ropean countries. Everywhere new
factories sprang up and each cOun-
try announced that its homemade
dyes were just as good as. or even
surpassed. the German products.
But. although Germany lost the
war, the fears of the dye manufac-
turers have been allayed. According
to the managing director OF Ger
many's greatest dye concern. tne
Bayer Company in Leverkusen, near
Cologne, the textile industry Of Eng
land, America and Japan are clam
oring for German dyes.
THE only difficulty we have is
finding enough skilled laborers for
our Industries to be able to fill the
deluge OF orders we have received
from abroad" he said. "At present
we are employing only 40 per GEN..
of the number OF workingmen we
had before the war. But, throusn
the losses OF the war, and the fact
that for eighteen months after the
armistice we had not enough work
to keep 20 per cent. of our men busy
we are short OF men now that we
are recovering"
II is particularly the American
textile industry that is placing large
orders with the seven big German
dye firms This is due principally to
anxiety among American textile firms
that the new tariff. and especially the
Longworth bill. which is designed to
protect the American dye industry
from foreign competition. will prac-
tically stop Germany's dye trado
with America.
1T is surprising that the Amer
lean dye manufacturers should ask
for legislation to protect their cap
ital." said one German dye manufac-
turer. The American dye industry
is so much wealthier than ours. oar
capital amounts TO 1.762,00O, 600
marks, which today is less than s27,-
100000. What is that compared
with the vast amount Of money in
vested in the American dyestuff in
dustry?
"Our American competitors de-
clare they are afraid Of Germany
dumping her products on the Amer
lean market at very low prices. As
matter OF fact, we long ago realized
dumping. in the long run. spoils the
foreign trade and that the cut-pi,c'
system eventually cuts our owl
throats. On the other hand. some
/ times we are able to underbid oui
! competitors. because we can produce
much cheaper than other countries
as a result Of the low value Of tho
German mark. That isn't our fault
however, and we try to get the
highest prices"
It was also pointed out to me thai
II German dye exports to the United
States are restricted. or the duty or
| them is prohibitive the inevitable
consequence will be that German
dyes well get into America by way oi
| England and other countries. anc
the American textile industry will b'
the principal sufferer. as the mid
dlemen would. OF course. tack on a
fat sum themselves.
The German dye industry, lik'
many other industries in this coun
try. has recovered with remarkable
speed from its decline as a resul
Of the war While in 1919 the in
dustry reached the low mark in 81
history. most OF its products beini
used at home. the export trade NOR
than trebled the following year. an,
the big firms had TO look around 10
more capital in order to meet tn
demands. Six OF the seven larg
concerns had a working capital o
731, 100000 marks (normally abou
s174.0O0. .0O0) in 1920. This ha
again been increased. The profit
Of these firms was 249,600.0O
marks Cnormally $50. .404. .OO0). whicl
Is about one-third OF their capital
More than half OF this was distri
5 buted in dividends. while 100000,
600 marks (normslly s23, 500, 600
was used for extension purposes.
Slowly. but surely, as the Germa
2 dye trade papers point out with sat
! isfaction. the dye Industries whic
sprang up in other countries to re
b place the German industry seem I
+ be fading away. The Swedish dy
t industry. for instance, which SUI
piled Russia and England durin
! the war. has shrunk to next
o. nothing. and the Swedish textil
e. manufacturers are again buyin
e German dyes; Japan. one OF Gel
e many's buyers before the war. ci
e down the number OF its dye fa'
o tories in 1920 from 40 to 392. Tn
y number is dwindling, and Japan
- buying a large part OF her dyes froi
S England. the United States ar
y Canada Thus. for instance. Japa
imported 1.75O,OOO pounds OF dy'
o from the United States and only 81
C loco pounds from Germany. 81
y lGermany's quota in 1919 had bes
I,rl~r 90 mn nonnde