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THE COLLIERY (WARDIAN

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JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES.

VOf. CXIII.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1917.

No. 2923.

The Coal Trade of 1916.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

. The difficulties which beset the Northumberland coal
trade and the.. Newcastle coal market in 1915 were not
in the least whittled down in the year under review.
Indeed, from the point of- view of an obstacle race, 1916
was very much like 1915, “ only more so.” There was
continually present the tonnage shortage, but. in an
aggravated form; the paucity of skilled labour was
undiminished—rather was.it accentuated by the. cheerful
carelessness : with j which military tribunals ordered
‘ mere officials ” to join up,’ regardless of the fact that
many of those doing that., which, appeared to‘the omni-
scient recruiting bodies to be “ only office work ” were
performing duties the cessation of which would abso-
lutely dislocate the mining industry; freights, until the
quite insufficient check—hereafter referred to in detail
—was put on so ■ far - as certain Allied destinations were
concerned, soared up as serenely as though they had only
just commenced their flight heavenwards; there was
constant, regulation and re-regulation of coal shipment
by Government authorities; costs of production con-
tinued to advance; and, altogether, as we have had occa-
sion. to remark in.earlier writings on the mining industry
during the present war, it was only.the inherent vitality
of the industry and the absolute indispensability of the
product that kept the coal trade alive at all. It cer-
tainly required all the skill and engineering and busi-
ness acumen of those engaged in bringing the coal to the
surface, and all the close application and persistence of
these commercial .men who constituted themselves—
thereby earning the thanks of the entire mining com-
munity—the watchdogs of the trade, scrutinising every
new move made by the Government and-by those who
make their living by the transport of fuel, objecting to
any State regulation which unduly threatened the
industry without conferring a corresponding benefit
upon the nation in arms, and doing all possible to facili-
tate both the production and the transport of the
precious mineral. In this connection, if one gentleman
may be legitimately singled out of the host for com-
mendation, the indefatigable secretary of the Newcastle
Chamber of Commerce (Mr. Herbert Shaw) deserves
well of all interested in the welfare of the coal trade.

From the point of view of prices, 1916 was a dis-
tinctly good year—a record year. High costs of pro-
duction , and the comparative smallness of the produc-
tion itself, take, of course, a good deal of the gilt off the
gingerbread. Nevertheless, not being—as the agricul-
tural community proverbially is — always anxious to
discount success and to magnify grievances, it is impro-
bable that “ coal men ” will be’found to deny that there
has been a certain gratifyingly large financial, recom-
pense for all their.trials and tribulations of the past-
year. . Prices reached their: “ peak ” in the early
summer. By that time bestBlyth steams, for example,
had advanced from the maximum 30s., with which the
year started,.to 65s., a. figure at which, however, they
only remained for'a few days before commencing what
proved to be. an almost constant descent to the figure
at which they started, and at which the year closed.
Steam seconds climbed up from 25s. in January to 55s.
in May, remained there a month, and then fell gradu-
ally to a closing quotation of 27s. 6d. Gas specials
“ opened ” at 25s., reached their zenith—40s.—in April,
retained that top figure until August, touched bottom at
30s. in November, and rose to 33s. last month. Bunkers
began the year at 25s., rose to 40s. in April, remained
thereabouts until June, and, since then, have fallen
precipitately, until now they 'are ho higher, than 20s.
' Household coals- .for-export—prices for local consump-
tion were never -anywhere near these- figures —com-
menced the • year at atop price of 30s., gradually rose
.to 65s. in midsummer (a .curious, phenomenon), and
receded to 30s. as: winter. came again. The. same rule
as to. “ the longer the days < the higher the prices”
applied to foundry and blast furnace coke, the demand
for which has exceeded the supply throughout most of
the year, although the changes in the selling values of
these were not sensational—5s. covered ■ the. variation in
the case of foundry, and 7s. fid. in the case of furnace
sorts. Gas coke proved to be the only exception to the
rule, commencing at a maximum of 3Qs., receding to
27s. in April, and then rising• little by,little to 35s., at
which highest price it has stood ever .since August.

The three main features of the year’s operations were :
The perpetual interference1—no doubt- largely justified
by military exigencies, but occasionally very difficult to
understand—of the State with the normal operations of
the trade and industry; the constant shortage of tonnage
—a circumstance brought about, in the main, by the war,
but to some extent by faulty discharging arrangements
at many ports, both at home and abroad (although it is
fashionable to ignore the home defects and to point a

very accusing, finger at the French Atlantic merely); and

the limitation arrangements with reference to rates of
freight and coal prices which were brought into being
during the 12 months.

The Limitation Schemes.

To deal with the latter first. The earlier scheme had
only the French Atlantic ports within’ its purview, and
provided, as the outcome of conferences and ultimate
agreements between the President of the Board of
Trade,, the . coal, owners and exporters, and the ship
owners, that, as from the beginning of June, freights
and coal prices should not exceed certain figures, e.g.,
so far as this district was concerned: The maximum
rates of freight from the Tyne, Hull, and the east coast
generally should be: To Rouen, 27s. 6d.; Havre,
25s. 6d.; Dieppe, 26s.; Dunkirk, 28s. fid.; Calais,
27s. fid.; Boulogne, .26s. fid.; Treport, Cherbourg,
Fecamp, 2fis. fid.; Caen, Granville, Honfleur, Trou-
ville, 26s. fid.; St. Brieux, 28s.; St. Malo, St. Servan,
26s. fid.; Brest, 27s. fid.; Rochefort, St. Nazaire, and
adjoining ports, 35s.; Bordeaux, 40s.; and Bayonne,
42s. fid.; with certain minor provisoes slightly varying
the rates for certain sizes of vessels. Then, for the
period of the war, or until December 31, 1916, with
power after that date of revision as-to future sales, at
the instance of either side, the following 3vere .t0 .be the
maximum prices, f.o.b. at the nearest customary ship-
ping place for each colliery, of.the following classes of
local coal :—Northumberland : Screened coal and nuts,
30s.; unscreened gas and coking, 25s. ; and small coal,
20s. Durham :-All qualities of unscreened coal, includ-
ing coking smalls, 25s.; other small coal, 20s.; usual
screened Durham gas and manufacturing, including
nuts, 26s.; and large screened- Durham, steam, house-
hold , Lamb ton, and the ■ like, 30s. The s cheme had, of
course, a national application, freight rates • and coal
prices being fixed in like manner for other parts of the
country. One rather remarkable result of its coming
into operation was to induce a considerable degree of
shyness, especially on the part of neutrals, amongst
ship owners, so far as offering their vessels' to' ply
between this country and French Atlantic ports was con-
cerned. ■ Not even the . Government announcement in
June that all vessels carrying coals to French ports at
limitation freights could secure British bunkers at a
maximum of 7s. fid. per ton over limitation prices—
which, on the basis of the figures then ruling, amounted
to a rebate of 2s. fid. per ton—proved adequate induce-
ment. The explanation was, of course, that very much
better rates were receivable in respect of unrestricted
ports—-and thither went the ships of many-of our mer-
chant adventurers.- When to that fact was added the
undoubtedly, great congestion at French ports, suffi-
cient explanation is forthcoming of the fact that the
scheme has not worked as smoothly and as advan-
tageously as/might-have been hoped. - ..

It was manifestly unfair that preferential treatment
should be offered to the French Atlantic as against the
French’ Mediterranean, for example, to say nothing of
our Italian allies. Therefore, before the- scheme just
detailed had been working very long, there came a call
for its extension. For months the Board of Trade was
in labour with a similar scheme for application to the
French Mediterranean and Italian ports, and hope
deferred had made the heart of the shipper sick—and
correspondingly rejoiced the hearts of those ship owners
who were just a little bit unduly concerned about
Mammon, in the circumstances—when, on October 30,
the'Mediterranean scheme came into being. The same
maximum coal prices were fixed as had been agreed
upon for the French Atlantic. The freights permis-
sible varied from 53s. fid. for Algiers or Oran to 77s. 6d.
for Porto Empedocl'e. ’. The rate for Genoa was fixed at
a maximum 'of 64s. fid. , that'for Marseilles at 63s.' 6d.,
and so on. It may be readily conceded' that the maxi-
mum prices for coals show, a considerable increase on ;
pre-war figures. Roughly speaking, they are" about
double those of 1913, a fact mainly explicable by the
increase in? the costs of coal production. The ship
owners, however, have been content with no (compara-
tively) modest 100 per cent, increase in their charges.
The “ restricted ” rate to Rouen is, roughly, 400 per
cent, above that which ruled in 1913; that to Bordeaux,
600 per cent, more; that to Genoa, nearly 600 per cent,
more; that to Marseilles, rather over 600 per cent, more;
and so on all through the list. A year ago we said that
“ coal freights have risen to a stupendous height —a
hei.o'ht wholly unwarranted by anything save the ability
of the ship owners to demand such levies on industry
•successfuliy.” These words still hold good. Even
now, with all the “ limitation,” the rate to Rouen—to
take only a few. quite typical instances—stands at

6s. fid. above the closing rate of 1915; that to Bordeaux,
at 10s. above; that to Genoa, at only ,3s. below the
closing rate of 1915; and that to Marseilles, at 13s. 6d.
above. In the circumstances, British coal shippers 'and
Allied coal consumers may join in thanking -the ship
owner and the Board of Trade for very little in some
instances, and something-less than nothing in others.

A few “Milestones”—and Millstones.

There is little need to attempt anything in the nature,
of a detailed account of the course of the coal trade
during 1916. If such were, set out, it would be, seen
that such.phrases as “Business checked by reason of
tonnage shortage ” would occur almost as frequently as
currants and raisins in a Christmas pudding. The broad
statements already made as to the influences to which
trade was subject almost .suffice. Glancing over the
year’s work,, however, it is interesting to note that,, in
January, the authorities sought to make the extraordi-
nary regulation that steam coal for export should be
certified unfit for coking purposes—a thing manifestly
absurd—but that the efforts of the Newcastle Advisory
Committee resulted in the removal of that restriction.
In:February there was la wholesale refusal of licences,
and the . shipment of unscreened coals to neutral
countries was stopped for a few days, resumption being
pertnitted, however, after representations by that invalu-
able Advisory Committee, on'condition that local muni-
tion works and other home consumers were assured of
supplies of small coal. At this time, the export of coal
to Sweden was permitted, conditional on pit props being
supplied !in. return.

In April, the embargo on the export of unscreened
steams was renewed, in order that' the -supply of smalls
for home consumers-might be increased. In making
this announcement, the Coal Exports Committee
expressed the somewhat Sapient judgment that screened
coal would suit foreign consumers equally well as
unscreened in many instances — a perfectly correct
statement, but one which did not take into consideration
the difference in cost of production, and, therefore, in
price. In mid-April, the Board of Trade decreed that,
as from April 25, the time limit of licences should be
reduced from eight to four weeks in the-European trade,
and from eight to six weeks in the American trade, the
period to count from the date of issue of the licences,
and not from the. date specified for shipment, licences
issued before April 25 to retain their original validity
and length of service. Representations made by the
Advisory Committee resulted in the Coal Exports Com-
mittee undertaking to endeavour, in case of urgent.and
important business, to mitigate the new Order by show-
ing indulgence in the matter of renewals of licences. The
French Atlantic limitation scheme came into operation
at the beginning of June. From the beginning of July
until the end of October, when the Mediterranean limi-
tation scheme did actually come into operation, there
were frequent hold-offs in the expectation of the latter
agreement: being put into force. -These abstentions
from business were especially noticeable towards the end
of August and during the first fortnight in September.
In September, the Northumberland coal . owners
approached the Government for higher prices for requisi-
tioned, coal, and the Admiralty conceded 2Is. per ton for
best Bly th steams, as against 18 s. fid. hitherto paid. A
similar concession was extended to Durham collieries
towards the1 end of November. Towards the end of the
year the tonnage shortage was greatly aggravated by
German submarine activities directed against Scandi-
navian vessels rendering any service to this country, and
as the result of a failure on the part of Scandinavian
ship owners to come to an agreement with respect to
the payment of extra insurances against war risks, this
country was largely deprived of the use of such steamers
—a circumstance which- greatly intensified the tonnage-
shortage, and, aided and :abetted^ by stormy'weather at
sea, resulted in many pits losing a great "deal of what
was, in the -nature, of the case, very valuable’and ill-
spared time.: .Loose selling organisation resulted in the
discovery, in December, that certain Scandinavian coal
contracts were being arranged, for at under 30s. per ton
f.o.b.. for best steams, less than the maximum: price
for Allied customers." : It was understood that,: hence-
forward,-'collieries would stand out for' the full 30s. so
far as the Allies were concerned, and for not less than
32s. fid. from neutrals.

Market Prices throughout the Year.

The table on next page gives the highest and lowest
prices ruling during each month of 1916 for each of the
various descriptions of fuel dealt in on Newcastle
market. The quotations are, of-course,, per ton and
free on board for prompt shipment.

Miners’ Wages.

New Year does not appear to be a lucky period for the
Northumberland miner, so far as his wages are con-
cerned, and the miners of the county who, at the time
of writing, are chafing somewhat because they will have
to commence 1917 with rather lower rates of pay than