TABLE 40.-Wood pulp: Average foreign unit value of imported pulp, for specified months and periods, with relatives as compared with the same months or periods one year earlier taken as 100-Continued

As already stated, reports were obtained from importers covering approximately 90 per cent of the total imports of pulp from European countries. The quantity for each contract let was ascertained and the price as of United States (Atlantic) seaports, together with the cost of transportation to the various mills concerned, was computed. Weighted averages for each quarter were computed on the basis both of Atlantic port prices and prices delivered to mills.

Table 41 compares for each of the principal kinds of pulp the weighted average contract prices for European pulp c. i. f. Atlantic coast ports with the average foreign unit value of the imports during that quarter (a) from all countries combined and (b) from the principal competing European country. The prices are shown graphically in Chart O. Average unit values of imports from other leading countries are given in later tables (42 and 43) and in Charts P and Q.

It is to be expected, of course, that the contract prices c. i. f. Atlantic ports of the United States will be higher than unit values of imports, since the cost of transportation and importers' charges must be added to the foreign values. It is to be expected, further, that any change in the contract prices will be reflected somewhat later in the average unit value of imported pulp.

The table shows considerable differences among the several kinds of pulp with respect to the movement of prices. In all there has been a decline over the 3-year period taken as a whole, but the total amount of decline is considerably greater for chemical pulp than for mechanical, and the price reductions for the different kinds are not closely parallel in point of time.

TABLE 41.-Wood pulp: Comparison of average contract prices for European pulp with average foreign unit value of imports from all countries and from the principal European competing country

CHART O

WOOD PULP: COMPARISON OF AVERAGE CONTRACT PRICES FOR
EUROPEAN PULP, C.I.F. ATLANTIC PORTS WITH AVERAGE FOREIGN
VALUE OF PULP IMPORTS FROM THE PRINCIPAL
COMPETING.EUROPEAN COUNTRY-BY QUARTERS.

AVERAGE FOREIGN UNIT IMPORT VALUES, BY QUARTERS

Unbleached sulphite. The largest single item in imports is unbleached sulphite pulp, and Sweden is much the largest source. The contract prices for European sulphite fell during each quarter of 1930 and also during each quarter of 1931, the most marked changes having taken place in the third and fourth quarters of each year. As shown elsewhere (Table 33) exceptionally large contracts for sulphite pulp were let by the importers during the last quarter of 1931. The average price during that quarter was about $4.80 lower than in the third quarter, a decrease of about 12 per cent. The decrease between the second and third quarters had been somewhat over 4 per cent. The more conspicuous of the downward movements in contract prices are approximately paralleled by declines in the next following quarter for the average unit values of the imports from Sweden. The average import value of imports from Sweden for the fourth quarter of 1930 showed a decrease of about 8 per cent as compared with the third quarter, and the first quarter of 1931 showed a further decrease of about 6 per cent. During the fourth quarter of 1931 the average unit value of imports from Sweden was about 6 per cent less than during the third quarter, and during the first quarter of 1932 there was a further drop of about 9 per cent.

Bleached sulphite.-Bleached sulphite is much less important in imports than unbleached. Much the larger part of the total imports comes from Canada and the imports from Germany during the last three years have been about equal to those from Sweden. Nevertheless, since the contract data relate only to European pulp, Table 41 shows a comparison between the average unit value of imports from Sweden and the contract prices. (Unit values of imports from Canada and Germany are shown in Table 42 below.)

The movement of the contract prices for bleached sulphite has been. roughly parallel to the movement for unbleached sulphite. Marked declines occurred in the last two quarters of 1930 and also in the last two quarters of 1931. During the third quarter of 1931 the average was nearly 10 per cent lower than during the second quarter, and the fall during the fourth quarter was about 12 per cent. Following these changes in contract prices there was a drop of about 11 per cent in the average unit value of bleached sulphite imported from Sweden during the fourth quarter of 1931 as compared with the third quarter, and a further drop of about 18 per cent in the first quarter of 1932. It should be noted that the contracts for European bleached sulphite during the last quarter of 1931 were larger than during any previous quarter since the beginning of 1930, and much larger than during the third quarter of 1931.

Unbleached sulphate.-Next to unbleached sulphite, unbleached sulphate is the most important item in the imports of wood pulp. Roughly, four-fifths of the total importation during the last three years has been from Sweden. The movement of the prices of this class of pulp, as shown in the contracts of importers of European pulp and in the average unit prices of the pulp actually received from Sweden, has been decidedly different from that of the two classes of

sulphite pulp. A marked decline in both series of data for unbleached sulphate occurred during the early part of 1930 and again toward the close of 1930 or early in 1931, whereas very little change appears in the average prices of importers' contracts between the fourth quarter of 1930 and the end of 1931, and very little change appears in the average unit values of imports from Sweden since the second quarter of 1931. In this connection it should be noted (see Table 33) that the contracts let for European unbleached sulphate during the last quarter of 1931 were exceptionally small in quantity, although the actual imports during the late fall and winter months were large.

Mechanical pulp.-The contract prices and import values of unbleached mechanical pulp also show a movement materially different from those for the two kinds of sulphite pulp. This may be due to the fact that the great bulk of the imports of mechanical pulp comes from Canada, the European country most important in the supply of this kind of pulp being Finland, the average unit value of imports from which is shown in Table 41. (For average value of imports from Canada see Table 43.) The contract prices show a decline of about 8 per cent between the first quarter and the last quarter of 1930, a further drop of about 10 per cent for the first quarter of 1931, and relatively little change thereafter until the fourth quarter, when the average was about 9 per cent lower than in the third quarter.

There was no such harmony between the movement of the average unit values of imports from the principal European competing country and the average contract prices for European pulp in the case of mechanical pulp as appears in the case of the various classes of chemical pulp. The average unit values for imports from Finland were decidedly higher during the last two quarters of 1931 than at any previous time during 1930 or 1931, whereas the drop in the first quarter of 1932 was approximately 20 per cent, leaving the average, however, at about the same level as during the early part of 1931. The quantities involved in the imports of mechanical pulp from Finland are relatively small, and there may be variations in grade which account for these apparent irregularities in the price movement.

AVERAGE FOREIGN UNIT VALUES OF IMPORTS FROM PRINCIPAL

COUNTRIES

Table 42 shows for the three principal kinds of chemical pulp imported from foreign countries the average unit value of the imports during each quarter from all countries combined and from each of the principal countries supplying the given kind of pulp. The table also shows relatives based on the average unit values of 1930 taken as 100. Table 42 presents similar data for unbleached mechanical pulp. The more important movements indicated by those tables have already been discussed in connection with Table 41.