Page 473 - 5 Persian Trade rep BUSHIRE I_Neat

REPORT

ON THE

TRADE OF BUSHIRE

FOE THE

Persian year ending March. 21st, 1915.

Introduction. review Southern Persia itself began to be disturbed
owing to German intrigues.
Busbire of recent years has teen the port of
supply ar.d ship-ent for the coastal region from The principal items of merchandise affected
^
.
the province of Arabistaa to the neighbourhood of . were Piece-goods—ordmanly the rt'.ple article of
Lin«'di f-.-r the province cf Pars, and to a small i Southern Persian trade—Sugar, T-:a, Spices, Gum,
cateut f-.-r the towns <? Isfahan and Yazd in Opium, Carpets and Almonds.
Central Persia. Up to l'e07 the Buslnrc-Sbirnz- Owing to the fastidiousuess of Persian taste,
Isfahan route had been the principal caravan road J,0af Sugar had of recent years been almost enti-
for all trade cu:~ring the country by tbs Persian rely of a special cone shape, or Belgian origin,
Uulf: p:ecc-gc:d>, sugar and ether commodities carried in German steamers. The declaration of
for the important Isfahan market fiuctcg their war by the Allies against Germany put an end to
way up-country from Bushire. After teat year j tra<l|cg bv German vessels, and to the export cf
increased traffic on the road from Ahwaz to j JJe]gjan cUgar from the refinery concerned. For
Isfahan eliminated to a large extent oeanngs j that reason, the total import of Loaf-Sugar to
between Bushire and Isfanan, both in imports and J3u?:hire for the last 7 months of 1914-15 was
Persian produce. Larger sales in Fare and the onl C09 (on3 as againsfc 4,603 tons for the
coastal region and greater business act.ntv have corresponding period in 1912-13 aud 4,525 tons
helped however to maintain the value of trade Lq 1913-14.
entering and leaving the port at its previons level
£1,009/00 to £1,500,000. Continual political Crystal Sugar from India and ITongkong had
disorders in one region or another of Southern to be imported to replace Loaf-Sugar, in larger
Persia supply the reason for Lack of further pro- quantities than in previous years. Thus for the
gre6s. last 7 months of the period from August 191-*,
2,160 tons were imported as compared with
779 tons only in 1913-14.
Conditions affecting the Trade of the Port in
The richer trade of the Shatt-el-Arab porft,
1914-15-
Muhammareh, Basra and Baghdad, in exports
Normal conditions subsisted during only the particularly, forms the principal attraction for
first 4 \ months of the year covered by this report: British steamers to sail direct frura the United
the outbreak of the European war at the end of Kingdom to the Persian Gulf, az.d it is by these
July 1914, followed by the British campaign in vessels that Manchester secures its chief freight
Mesopotamia against Turkey from November for p’:ce-goods. War'with Turkey in November
1914, effected radical changes in the volume of 1914, and other reasons, reduced direct sailing’s
trade in the principal classes of imports and from tl/e United Kingdom to a minimum, and
exporta; while at the end of the period under made shipments rid India the only possible
H9 F. t F. D.

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