Evening star., 1922-12-08
CORNER IN RUBBER
PRICES IS limited
Cost of Auto Tires and Other
Goods May Be Forced Up
by London interests.
BY j. &. ROYLE,
Special Dispatch to Tho Sta,

THE following exclusive story rexesls wolf
ronoi.lons IN the rubber industry, which direc,
,y,a y anecf the pocketbooks Of every American
~ho makes or uses tires, rubber heels o.a..
shoes or Other mechanical rubber goods }
NEW YORK, December s.-Th~
! British rubber producers have set IS
pence, or about "a cents per pound. az
! the mark at which they hope to peg thu
price of rude rubber under the ner-
| regulations imposing heavy taxes on
shipments from the far east MAN.
dealers and producers here declared .
today that they considered II entirelr
possible that the prices would be
showed up to that figure. although
how long they could be maintained
there WAS n question.
AS the British market controls th.
| main source of supply, those froil
, the Malay peninsula and the East In
dles, this points Enthusiastically 10
higher prices for tires and mechanical
rubber goods in this country. Til"
present price Of crude rubber here Is
about 81 cents
Present stocks on Hand.
/ Stocks of rubber in London prot
| ably will total between 10000 and
100000 tons before the end of this wear.
l according to cables from that market
| today, but after January !. thes.
l sto'hS are expected 10 decrease rap
| ldlE- The rubber available in London
| November 15 amounted to $4,000 tons.
| but the tremendous volume OF the
| commodity which was shipped out OF
| the Malay peninsula before November
| i, when the taxation on excess ship
ments went into effect, now is arriv-
| ing AT British ports
Now that the taxes are effective.
however, shipments undoubtedly VII
| fall off. There has been no startling
"a irl = l,n
| regulations are counted on to hold
shipments and sales of crude rubber
j well under The requirements of tire
| and other manufacturers If they co
! not and If high prices are not mai
! tained. it is perfectly within the pow
er of the British colonial authorities
] to further increase taxation until
production falls below demand.
Rise Started Mt I8 Cents.
| When the new regula tions were
! nounced. and the price of rubber started
4 TO rise from Is cents, tire and rubber
men in America. it became known to-
| Gay. went 10 Washington with a re
! quest that protests be made to III.
| British government. 1t is understood
! that these manufacturers were told that
! the United States was not in a posi-
| tion TO protest over the price Of cruG-
+, rubber any more than the British gov
! ernment was entitled to protest ove"
the prices American manufacture
! After numerous meetings. the ruhber
! association here, which is an organza
| tion to protect the interests Of dealers
| and consumers. appointed commit
| rubber association in London. whirl
! looks after the growers. and attempt ~
! come to some agreement for stabiliZ-
| ing prices for crude rubber (which
| would be mutually advantageous"
! Up to this time there seems N
| have been a decided difference of opin-
! ion as to what prices were mutually
| advantageous. AS a consequence many
| makers of mechanical rubber goods al
| ready have advanced their prices-sorue
as much as i5 per cent. At least two
I tire manufacturers, Mason and Kelly
| Springfield. have followed suit. and
| ample.
| Other Increases Likely
I Two other important producers in
| the tire field are known to be PLAN
| ming price advances for the imme-
diate future. one of the largest pro-
ducerS OF druggists SundrieS and me-
! Clanical goods expects to revise its
| quotations upward inside a week, ard
rubber footwear companies are work
4 ing on new price schedules. to be ef-
| fectlve carly next January.
| Tire makers have maintained fo-
some time that present prices were
too low to allow 4 fair margin oe
profit. but that competition was
| keen they had decided to defer con-
templated increases. Wages have ad-
! vanced from ) to IL per cent in the
rubber industry and cotton tire fab
/ rics also have increased in cost.
| New price schedules. however. are
! expected to give wider margins of
profit. and companies engaged In this
4 line of production are expected to at
/ tain vastly improved position. as
| the volume of business is at record
breaking figures and is expected to
| increase next spring. when new auto
mobile production schedules go into
l effect.
| Railroads and mines are buying
mechanical rubber goods in tremen-
| dous quantities. rubber footwear de-
| mands have necessited operation cr
/ factories at capacity and rubber heel
| makers have placed many of their
\ plants on two-shift schedule.