Page 378 - 5 Persian Trade rep BUSHIRE I_Neat

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bold the comv?.-!>n for the road, and the despatch In ali ens:-* the number of laden animals down-
of an energetic tender brought alwut the restora­ cour.try is much less.
tion of order, arid from September onwards the / clime of trade.—In spite of continued inse­
road continued tolerably secure. curity on the roads and dearth of transport, trado
Tranqiort was scarce at times, hut owing to the no Busliire attained a higher aggregate valuo in
mild winter of 11*12-13 traffic continued practically 11)12-13 than during any of the preceding 10
uninterruptedly, and snow did not block the years, and at Kraus 50 per .Cl was equivalent to
route a? in the winter of 1911-12.
Tra’fse is giv-*n ns follows :— Imports. K sport*.
C £
Ur*cori*Tur. Dowk. 1003 . 870.S03 306,6C0
loot 8S0.823 431,9 SI
March 1012-13. 1005
12.>»3 packs £r>. 3031 package*, . 701,032 4G9.9SO
saj about 720 in; about 220 toes. 1006-07 8G3.SH 308,121
too*.
1907-03 . 1,052,013 497.000
1008-09 703,483 432,303
JFur ca!t ndar years :— Toni. Tons. 1000-10 717,001 400.892
1010 1,319 3S2 1010-11 . 675,611 3 IS,050
1911-12 . 032,531 0.60,020
l?li 642 329 1012-13 . 1,016,802 700.SO0
1012 SGI G04 (increase ow­ That this year of large imports, under unfavour­
! ing to 3-50 able circumstances, saw also the high water mark
ton* of Tim-
! baku from reached in Exports was a distinctly favourable
Idaban . sign. On the other hand there can be no doubt
that the chief contributory item to the increase in
>'ors.—Those Scures represent forwardings by the Com­ imports, (.110,990 for cotton tissues, following
pany managing ti c ro..«l : independent forwardings by oa the increase of (1159,339 in 1911-12, ha s accen-
rer»us traders are stated by competent authority t'a b? a tuated the depression in Shiraz and Bush ire in the
fltLiiir quantity.
piece-goods market : and the stocks imported were
J-:t rage rates of Mre.—There was a great in. far too large for the annual consumption in the
civuso on rates of previous years :— existing unsettled slate of the interior, with the
result tl.it a reaction set in after the end of
?■: .Shah cms of i March l'ei3, and imports of cottons in !*J13-14
13 vV ibs. nvcne* .• hire Upwards. Dowuwar; c will he -July a fraction of that now recorded.
1912.
Losses have been caused La consequence, and many
Persian importers have been hard pressed for money.
C-tae’i . 6*55 Krans 'I If the general security continues to improve, there
I is, however, every reason to Lope for the disposal
Mu’e* 675 4 3-00 Krars. of the excess of 1912-13. An import of over half
■ Jl a million pounds worth of cotton-goods is a serious
Dcckeja . 4 GO
matter.
These figures give per ton upwards £21 for Loaf sugar and crystal sugar also shewed im­
mules; downwards £9-6-0. : portant increases, £39,964 and £3U,939, and most
Scarcity of Transport animals.—The conditions | articles a slightly increased import : while there
prevailing during the period on each of the 3 were decreases of £ 17,S37 in specie : £11,057 in
roads, Bushire-Shiraz, Skiraz-Isfahan, Ahwaz-Is- copper, and £7,t>07 in teas.
fahan have been detailed at length separately, The total weight of imported goods also showed
and figure of rates of hire given, inasmuch a corresponding advance on those of previous
as the two chief problems influencing commerce years :—
from the Gulf to Central Persia are connected Ton*.
with the cc-st of transport hire, and the num­ 1903-09 . 16.981
ber of animals available for transporting goods. 1999-10 . 16,404
‘With the insecurity on all these Southern Trade 1910- 11 . 13,879
routes, the supply of animals has seriously dimi­ 1911- 12 . 16,597
nished. In consequence great delays in forward­ 1912- 13 . 19,712
ing goods and unnecessary cost were among the
chief disabilities of trade in 1912-13. which is accounted for by increases of 563 tons
From October 1912 to March 1913, C months— (piece-goods); 1,171 tons (Loaf sugar) ; 1,456 tons
the number of transport animals recorded as leav­ (Crystal sugar).
ing Bushire for Shiraz or Kazerun was 14,670 Exports.—The increase of £31,780 in total ex­
males and 6,381 donkeys, or 3,875 animals per ports is the result, in the first place, of an increase
mensem. No definite figures for the Shiraz-Is­ in the Opium export amounting to £77,211, ana
fahan road exist, but a minimum of 6,000 animals also to £24,812 in carpets, and £13,747 in specie;
reached Isfahan during the whole 12 months, \jt.t while there were decreases of £69,697 m wheat
an average of 500 per mensem. and £10,181 in barley.
On the Ahwaz-Isfahan road about 6,500 ani­ Comparison of trade of various countries.—Com­
mals took loads for the Company managing the paring the percentages of Imports by ™nou*
road: and a similar number for Persian traders countries, while the proportion taken by the United
gives a total of some 13,000 animals, or an aver­ Kingdom rose to over 17*8 percent., an ,DcrfJ1**®
age of 1,080 per mensem. over 3 per cent., the proportion of the British

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