TRADE CONDITIONS. WORLD'S PRODUCTION. The following table of the production of lead in the world has been calculated from the statistics published by the Metallgesellschaft, the Metallurgische Gesellschaft A.-G., and the Berg- und Metallbank, Aktiengesellschaft, of Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, with the exception of the substitution of the figures collected by the Geological Survey for the production of the United States. It is to be noted that the production of Central and South American countries is not included in the table. As shown on a preceding page, considerable lead has been smelted and refined in the United States in the last three years from ores produced in those countries. Noteworthy gains in production were made by Australia, Germany, and especially by Mexico; the largest loss was shown by the United States. The world's production of lead, 1904–1908, in short tons. The following figures of imports and exports of lead are taken from the records of the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor: Lead imported and entered for consumption in the United States, 1900-1908, in pounds. Imports of lead, in ore, base bullion, and refined, by countries, 1903–1908, in pounds. Total imports.. 2,794, 229 1,291,044 219,567, 193 469, 770 26,418 212,813, 486 225, 703, 312 196, 755, 408 168, 268, 939 159, 629,711 224, 148, 654 15,779,442 18,514,244 133,512,526 7,812,896 13, 272, 900 137,543, 692 315, 265 883,355 In the foregoing table, 98 per cent of the imports of lead from Europe in 1907 were in the form of refined lead, and 90 per cent of the imports from all other countries consisted of ore and base bullion. In 1908, on the contrary, 75 per cent of the imports from Europe consisted of ore and base bullion, and 98 per cent of the imports from other countries were likewise of ore and base bullion. The following table shows the imports of lead in ore, base bullion, and pigs, bars, sheets, and old, for the years 1907 and 1908: Lead, and manufactures of lead, of domestic production, exported, 1900-1908, in pounds. CUSTOMS DUTIES. The tariff of 1909 made a slight change in the duty on lead pipe, sheets, shot, wire, etc., and a very important change in the section regulating the smelting and refining of lead in bond. Under the tariff of 1897 the customs bond was canceled upon the exportation of 90 per cent of the weight of base bullion or lead contents of ore imported. Under the present tariff the bond is canceled only upon the exportation of the actual quantity of lead produced from the base bullion and ore. The sections of the new tariff which are concerned with lead and lead products are as follows: 181. Lead-bearing ore of all kinds, one and one-half cents per pound on the lead contained therein: Provided, That on all importations of lead-bearing ores the duties shall be estimated at the port of entry, and a bond given in double the amount of such estimated duties for the transportation of the ores by common carriers bonded for the transportation of appraised or unappraised merchandise to properly equipped sampling or smelting establishments, whether designated as bonded warehouses or otherwise. On the arrival of the ores at such establishments they shall be sampled according to commercial methods under the supervision of government officers, who shall be stationed at such establishments, and who shall submit the samples thus obtained to a government assayer, designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall make a proper assay of the sample and report the result to the proper customs officers, and the import entries shall be liquidated thereon, except in case of ores that shall be removed to a bonded warehouse to be refined for exportation as provided by law. And the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to make all necessary regulations to enforce the provisions of this paragraph. 182. Lead dross, lead bullion or base bullion, lead in pigs and bars, lead in any form not specially provided for in this section, old refuse lead run into blocks and bars, and old scrap lead fit only to be remanufactured; all the foregoing, two and oneeighth cents per pound; lead in sheets, pipe, shot, glaziers' lead and lead wire, two and three-eighths cents per pound. 191. Type metal, one and one-half cents per pound on the lead contained therein. 49. Red lead, two and five-eighths cents per pound. 53. White lead, and white pigment containing lead, dry or in pulp, or ground or mixed with oil, two and one-half cents per pound. 58. Lead: Acetate of, white, three cents per pound; brown, gray, or yellow, two cents per pound; nitrate of, two and one-fourth cents per pound; litharge, two and one-half cents per pound. Sec. 24. That the works of manufacturers engaged in smelting or refining, or both, of ores and crude metals, may upon the giving of satisfactory bonds be designated as bonded smelting warehouses. Ores or crude metals may be removed from the vessel or other vehicle in which imported, or from a bonded warehouse, into a bonded smelting warehouse without the payment of duties thereon and there smelted or refined, or both, together with other ores or crude metals of home or foreign production: Provided, That the several charges against such bonds may be cancelled upon the exportation or delivery to a bonded manufacturing warehouse, established under section twenty-three of this act, of the actual amount of lead produced from the smelting or refining, or both, of such ores or crude metals: And provided further, That said lead may be withdrawn for domestic consumption or transferred to a bonded customs warehouse and withdrawn therefrom upon the payment of the duties chargeable against it in that condition: Provided further, That all labor performed and services rendered pursuant to this section shall be under the supervision of an officer of the customs, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and at the expense of the manufacturer: Provided further, That all regulations for the carrying out of this section shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. CONSUMPTION. In previous statements of lead consumption in these reports it has been the custom to take into account the smelter stocks of lead at the beginning and at the close of the year. It is not to be denied that for the individual year this gives closer figures. It is just as true that account of trade stocks should also be taken to arrive at accurate results; but this is manifestly outside the scope of this bureau. It has been found impossible to obtain a statement of stocks from one large producer in either 1907 or 1908; hence consumption has been calculated without reference to domestic stocks. A very considerable part, however, amounting in 1908 to nearly one-fourth of the lead smelted and refined in this country, is of foreign origin smelted in bond, and it is possible to obtain the stocks of this portion since they are reported annually by the Bureau of Statistics as "merchandise remaining in warehouse at close of year." A certain element of error is introduced by the fact that the imports, the exports, and the warehouse stocks, as given, include both lead in ore and base bullion. So far as imports are concerned, the relative quantities of lead in ore and of base bullion are shown in the table on a preceding page, entitled "Imports of lead, by classes," based upon the records of the Bureau of Statistics, and corroborated in the preceding table giving the "Sources of primary lead smelted or refined in the United States," based upon smelter reports. For exports and stocks no such division can be made. Nevertheless, it is deemed advisable to use warehouse stocks as giving a better estimate of consumption. It is necessary, therefore, to include all classes of lead imports as well as all classes of lead exports. In the following table "lead" includes all kinds-lead in ore, base bullion, pigs, bars, and old. The figures of domestic production are based upon returns by the smelters; all other figures are from the records of the Bureau of Statistics. Decrease by liquidation covers losses in smelting and refining in bond and other corrections. Warehouse stocks of bonded lead of foreign origin are given, but it has been found impossible to obtain complete figures of domestic stocks for 1907 and 1908. For this reason the result given below is lead "available for consumption." The "apparent consumption" of previous reports would be this quantity increased or diminished by the increase or decrease of domestic stocks during the year, and also diminished by the exports of domestic lead. The domestic lead exports consist of lead in manufactures and in type, as shown in a preceding table. Consumption of primary lead in the United States, in short tons. For facility of comparison of consumption in the United States with that of the world, the consumption of the former has been calculated with and without stocks for a period of ten years, as shown in the following table. Consumption of lead, as shown in the second column, means the production of refined lead plus excess of exports over imports or minus excess of imports over exports. Additions made to stock during the year will thus appear as consumed, but as such stocks are apt to go into the market within the next year and cut down the apparent consumption to that extent, they thus compensate in the long run, leaving an accurate average measure of the consumption. The statistics of consumption of foreign countries as given in the table are taken from the estimates of the Metallgesellschaft, etc., which are also compiled without regard to stocks. In the following table, the first column gives, for the sake of comparison, the consumption with stocks taken into consideration; the remainder of the table disregards stocks. In neither column showing the United States. consumption is the production of secondary lead taken into account. World's consumption of pig lead, exclusive of secondary lead, 1898-1908, in short tons. a See preceding table, "Consumption of primary lead in the United States" in 1907-8. Consumption of lead, stocks and secondary lead disregarded, in 1906-1908, by countries, Country. in short tons. |