Page 357 - 1 Persian Trade rep Bahrain 1_Neat

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Freights varied up lo about £2-10-0 per ton to or from India (Bombay or
Karachi) as compared with £1 to £2 per ton in lirio-IO. No shipping Agent
al le lo quote freights to London or Calcutta.
was
General Remarks on Trade,—The pearl trade of necessity dominates the
whole commercial situation. The following fables show the movements of
t'oncral merchandise as compared with pearls and specie.
Import9.

T«rfal of Grerral Tor.d
Temr. Sped*. Pcnrli. tyfi and Me-cl an disc. Inp-uru.
p^arU.

£ £ £ £ £
1915- 16 280,032 130,300 419,332 733,432 1,172.764
1916- 17 J 97,233 103,609 601,132 & 19,39 2 1,^733
Percentage of increase or
decrease on previous year + 720 —2-2 + 43-3 + 220 + 29-6

Erj> orlt.

Tv^al of , Gcr«ral
Tear. Specie. Pearls. r.jCal
I **** *od I Merchandise, ln-OJrtx.
peux |
£ £ £ £ 1
1915- 16 100,$36 151,156 25-1,992 S3,911 fri-,2 03
1916- 17 125,7GO 364,4U0 490,160 2.S?,7S3 772,913
'
Percentage of increase or
decrease on previous rear + 24*7 + 97-8 + 7P9 +245-3 + 111*4
Imports. —The total value of imports into Bahrain amounted to
£1,529.758 as compared vri;h £1,172,764 in 1915-16, showing an increase of
£356,924 or 30*4 per cent The increases were in piece-goods, rice and coffee
imported in lieu of specie as already noted, and specie due to improvement in
the pearl market over the previous year.
Exports.—The total value of exports for the year under report amounted
to £779,9-43 as against £36S,903 in 1915-16 showing an increase of £411,040
or 111*4 per cent As exports do not pass through the Customs House avd are
almost entirely, excepting specie and pearls, by native cratts, no accurate
statistic! are available.
The figure for piece-goods (i.e.% £117,051) is probably slightly belcvr the
mark as two-thirds of the imports of piecc-g^Kxls have probably been
re-exported to Persia and the mainland of Arabia; the low figure for rice
(j-e., £104,215) may be accounted for in the same manner. The increase in
- ° value' of exports is mainly due to raising of the Persian blockade
and better security ou the trade route to Najd and partly to high prices
0“
Origin of Import*.

Incrw
Coen try. 1915-18. 1918-17.
D«cr*ac
Per cent. Per cent. Per oeoL
India
77*2 86*0 + 8*8
Ncbjhbg.nring countries bordering oa tbe
Persian Gulf . 22*7
AH other Foreign countries .’ * ! HO —-8*7
*1 00 + 0*1