An interesting letter has lately been reprinted by a northern paper giving an account of the conditions of the paper trade in the United States on March 5.
This letter intimates that the whole world will be faced with a paper shortage during 1990 and probably for the whole of 1921, clearly suggesting that buyers in their own interests would do well to look well ahead.
This counsel is very wise and unless merchants take it seriously to heart, they will find that other markets have secured the available tonnage from any source, whether it be the United States, -Scandinavia or England. Further, the position, both in Germany and Austria, is such that neither country is likely to be of any material help for some time to come.
I do not know if it is of general knowledge to the public that the shortage of material in all papermaking countries is aggravated by the unprecedented demand from all quarters, domestic and foreign, so that they are being called upon not only to supply their own needs, but those of other countries who before the war were large Austria, buyers both from -Germany and Whilst it is true that the British mills are dependent upon outside sources for their raw material (wood pulp, esparto grass) it is a stretch of imagination to state that England secures any quantities of material worth speaking about from the U. 8. A.—the tonnage is extremely small, to give it the highest figure. It' is more to the point that the U. 8. A. mills will buy largely from Canada and Scandinavia; in fact, their importation from these sources is considerable. The statement, therefore, that England is dependent upon outside sources and the U. 8. A. mills are not, is not a fair one.
The British mills, by reason of coal resources. cheap chemicals, ete., are able to produce machine finish printing and writing papers, bank papers, ete, in grades that compare favourably with anything produced in any country and at the present time the mills are extremely busy trying to fulfil the exceptional demands from overseas markets—an endeavour that is meeting with a large amount of success, and regaining trade that war conditions compelled them to relinquish for a time.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.