HANGHAI is in a bad way at present as far as coal is concerned, with that precious commodity selling on the market at the unbelievable price of $220 a ton.
And the future holds no relief in sight, as the price of coal is climbing steadily from week to week. Now, don't heap mental abuse on your much-berated local coal dealer; the fault does not lie with him, for as a matter of fact the high cost of coal is playing havoc with his business. An investigation into the cause of the Shanghai coal famine by the "North-China Daily News" has brought to light the following factors which contribute to the present coal crisis, namely: the war in China, the drought in Japan and the resultant failure of the Japanese hydro-electric plants, Japanese monopoly of coal produced in China, and the European war, Before the Sino-Japanese war Anthracite, or hard coal, is being started in the summer of 1937, local imported to Shanghai from Indo-China coal merchants were selling their and is selling on the local market for commodity for $16 a ton and were $180 a ton. Coal dealers predict that making more monty out of the coal the price of hard coal will reach the business than they are today. This same heights as that of soft coal in a may sound preposterous to irate con-few months as it is doubtful whether sumers who are faced with the alter-or not Indo-China can continue to native of forking out the high price meet Shanghai demands. demanded for coal today or hibernat-Inspire of the high cost there has ing for the winter, but it is true. In been a terrific demand for soft coal in fact some local dealers are consider-Shanghai. Practically every factory ing deserting the coal trade for the in Shanghai is equipped to burn only
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.