TYPE OF PAINT REQUIRED A large part of the building construction in the Dominican Republic is of masonry, known as "mamposteria," with galvanized iron or tile roofs, and tile or cement floors. Water paints are used for the exterior of such structures, and in recent years considerable calcimine has been used for interiors. Water paints are sold in a wide range of colors, but for exterior use, ocher and green are preferred and constitute the largest demand in the Republic. The retail price is about 7 cents per pound. Their cheapness tends to exclude better grades of distempers, but the strong West Indian sun and the copious summer rains cause this finish to peel and fade rapidly, and many property owners who desire greater durability and better appearance choose oil paints with a lead or zinc base. This condition, together with the considerable increase in the amount of cheap wooden construction in recent years, has increased the market for oil, paints. Oil paints are imported in a ready-mixed state, and as unmixed or paste paints, the latter class being largely supplied by British manufacturers. The market for varnishes is not very large, their chief use being for furniture and store fixtures. There is no demand for industrial varnishes, baking varnish, or baking enamel. There are two paint specialties that command considerable business for interior work in the Dominican Republic. One is an enamel, used for interior trim of all types; the other is a prepared varnish stain employed principally on doors. These two specialties replace varnish to a considerable extent, and are well known through local advertising. A fair market could no doubt be developed for other specialties if properly pushed. The Dominican Republic is an agricultural country and the market for industrial paints is limited. A certain amount of paint is required for the proper maintenance of the sugar mills, of which there are about 20 that are active. These mills own and operate private railroads and, in addition, there are several short public lines. The use of motor vehicles has increased rapidly in recent years, which would indicate an increasing market for automobile specialty paints and varnishes. OTHER MARKET FACTORS Quality. In the Sanchez district many of the houses are of wood, and the very heavy rainfall, interspersed as it is with periods of hot sunshine, causes a rapid deterioration of paints. There is, therefore, a comparatively larger demand in that district and the paints are generally of the better qualities. The rainfall is more moderate in the Macoris and Santo Domingo districts and paints do not deteriorate so rapidly, whereas the Azua district is very dry for the greater part of the year. Packing. Oil paints and specialties are popular in small containers. Water paints are usually supplied in barrels. The trade in small packets of calcimine is not of importance. Care should be exercised in packing goods for shipment to the Dominican Republic, as lighters are used at many ports. Packages should be properly marked in accordance with instructions of importers. Carelessness in this respect subjects the importers to fines. Methods of distribution.-Paints are imported and distributed to consumers exclusively by hardware dealers. These merchants usually deal direct with American factories. As in many other tropical countries, the trade is out of the hands of the natives to a considerable extent, the larger houses especially being controlled by foreigners. Agencies are usually established in Santo Domingo, from which place the whole country may be canvassed, particularly the south and southeast. However, it is frequently considered advisable to divide the territory and have a subagency at Santiago, another important distributing center. At the smaller places, such as Samana. Puerto Plata, San Pedro de Macoris, and Monte Cristi, are dealers who import direct and who are worthy of attention. Terms.-Thirty to 90-day credits are usually exacted by merchants whose financial standing is good. A few merchants prefer to pay cash, while others have book accounts with their suppliers and make payments at stated intervals. Prices quoted should be f. o. b. New York, if possible, as all Dominican importers are familiar with such quotations. However, alternative quotations, c. i. f. Dominican ports, sometimes prove attractive. Advertising.-Owing to the absence of suitable trade journals, the daily papers are used exclusively to advertise all imported commodities, including paints and varnishes. Posters and illustrated literature, as supplied by the manufacturers (printed in Spanish) are also used to bring the goods to the attention of the public. Several manufacturers who have been quite successful in the Dominican market allow their representatives moderate sums for local advertising. Trade-mark registration.-Application for the registering of a trade-mark should be made to the Secretaria de Estado de Fomento y Communicacions, Santo Domingo. Tariffs.-The following is a statement of the rates of duty applying on paints and varnishes entering the Dominican Republic: Per 100 kilos, gross weight Tariff No. 367: Bituminous paints, made from mineral tar (not aniline $3.00 (a) Natural colors (ochers, etc.), in powder or lumps, without any (c) Same, pure or not, prepared in paste, with oil or other liquid (f) All ready-mixed paints, pure or not, of whatever base.... 5.00 4.00 5.50 3.25 5.00 Per kilo, gross weight Tariff No. 363: Varnishes, driers, and shellacs, prepared, including stains for woodwork and other applications_-_ $0.10 (NOTE. None of the articles classified under paragraphs 368 (d), (e), and (f), and paragraph 363 shall pay a duty of less than 20 per cent ad valorem.) UNITED STATES PARTICIPATION The average value of United States exports of paints, pigment, and varnishes to the Republic during 1921, 1922, and 1923, according to American statistics, has been slightly under $80,000 over one-half of which was in ready-mixed paints. This represents a considerable advance in comparison with the 1913 exports ($28,311), but is considerably less than the 1920 exports ($291,165). The population of the Dominican Republic is about one-half that of the neighboring Republic of Haiti, but the value of American paint exports to the former is twice as much as to the latter. The following table shows the exports from the United States during the years specified: EXPORTS OF PAINTS, PIGMENTS, AND VARNISHES FROM THE UNITED STATES TO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC The Dominican Republic offers a favorable market for the sale of American paints and pigments. The superior quality of these goods is recognized and appreciated and American factories supply a large share of the total imports. Previous to the World War, German traders endeavored to introduce paints and varnishes made in Central Europe, but only inferior qualities were offered and dealers declined to stock up. Imports from that source in 1923 were less than 1 per cent of the total. The principal European paints handled by Dominican distributors at present are British paste paints. These goods enjoy an excellent reputation and the value of the imports has increased in recent years. Their brands have been known to the local merchants for many years, and a strong factor in their favor is the marked preference exhibited by the merchants for British linseed oil. American manufacturers will do well to give special attention to the marketing of similar or allied products and profit by the fact that in all other branches of the trade American goods predominate and have built up a good will which augurs well for the expansion of the American paint trade. 43011-25- -3 HAITI The Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic occupy an island east of Cuba, lying between Cuba and Porto Rico. The area of Haiti is estimated at 10,204 square miles, or a little more than that of Vermont. With a population of some 2,045,000, a little less than that of Alabama or Iowa, it is one of the most densely popu lated of the American Republics, having an average of 200 inhabitants per square mile for the whole country and of about 160 for the rural districts. Only about 400,000 of the total population is urban. The two most important cities are Port au Prince, the capital, and Cape Haitien. The approximate population of these cities is 125,000 and 20,000, respectively. Coffee is the principal item in the export trade of Haiti: castor beans, logwood, and goatskins follow in order of importance. The total value of exports for the fiscal year 1922 was $8,696,612, and in 1923 $12,128,429, of which 13.54 per cent was sent to the United States. The value of imports into Haiti for the same years was $12,350,271 and $14,157,963. The United States supplied 81.4 per cent of the latter amount. Commercial correspondence with Haiti is preferable in French, although the majority of the importers understand English. MARKET FOR PAINTS, PIGMENTS, AND VARNISHES Using the population figure of 2,045,000, and import statistics for the fiscal years 1917-1923, the import trade averaged $7.11 per capita. The proportion of the people living in the interior who purchase foreign goods, except absolute necessities, is not so great as the number of the same class living in the cities. Paints and varnishes are not manufactured in Haiti, the limited demands of the Republic in this respect being imported from abroad. The following table shows the imports for the fiscal year 1923. Similar statistics are not available for previous years, as these items were not especially enumerated in the Haitian official statistics. TYPE OF PAINT REQUIRED Types of construction vary considerably in Haiti. The houses of the natives in the country are made of upright posts wattled with palm thatch or bark, with a roof of palm leaves. There are numerous little towns and small villages scattered throughout the Republic. Few of these towns have any sort of improvements and consist for the most part of frame buildings. This type of construction is also seen in the larger cities, such as Port au Prince and Cape Haitien, but there are also many structures of the Spanish type of architecture, which are built of masonry with an outer coat of plaster or stucco. These are frequently covered with a paint consisting of native colors mixed with water. There are also some fine modern public buildings which have been erected in recent years in the large cities. The principal trade in Haiti is in red and yellow ocher, with paste paint second in importance. Business in ready-mixed paints is showing an increase. Imported cold-water paints are displaced to a considerable degree by locally prepared lime washes; and a small quantity of paste paint or ocher mixed with oil is often substituted for high-grade mixed paint. The market for varnishes and specialty paints is extremely limited, although there is a fairly good trade in a carriage gloss for use on the many cabs in Port au Prince. Galvanized corrugated sheets are used almost exclusively for roofs in Haiti and are not usually painted, although there is a small demand for paint adapted for that purpose. There is also a limited demand for marine and copper paint, and paint for automobiles and wagons. The market for paints used by industrial companies is practically limited to the railroad and sugar plantations. OTHER MARKET FACTORS Quality. The market demands a fairly cheap paint of moderate quality. Much of the paint used for interior decoration remains tacky for a long time, and for this reason considerable use is made of stains and shellacs. It would appear that climatic conditions require a larger amount of dryer in the composition of paints than is commonly used. Packing.-Paste paints are usually supplied in 5-pound and 10-pound cans. The use of ready-mixed paints is increasing in large-size containers, such as 3, 4, and 5 gallons. Red and yellow ochers are imported in barrels. Carriage gloss is usually imported in 6-ounce tins. Method of distribution.-Hardware stores are the principal distributers of paints in Haiti, but red and yellow ochers, for which there is a constant demand, appear in many other than hardware shops. Port au Prince is the logical place in which to establish an agency, as most places in Haiti can be visited from this point. There is a local coastal service and railways to a number of towns. There are a number of firms at Port au Prince, both wholesale and retail, that make direct importations. Communication, however, between Port au Prince and Cape Haitien is somewhat difficult and expensive, and the merchants in the latter city import their supplies direct. Because of this fact several exclusive agencies for the Republic which have been placed in the northern part of the island have not been properly pushed in the entire territory, and the way has been left open to competition. An analysis of the total import trade during the fiscal year 1923 shows that over half of the merchandise arrived at Port au Prince; the remainder entered at Cape Haitien, Aux Cayes, Jacmel, Gonaives, Saint Marc, Port de Paix, Petit Goave, Jeremie, and Miragoane, arranged in the order of their importance. This has been fostered by the lack of adequate transportation facilities, which has necessitated the development of self-contained commercial communities, each of which serves and distributes to the hinterland within a fixed radius, and each having little contact with the others. The marketing of the principal crops during the dry season causes business to become active in December, January, and February. In the summer months business is stagnant, and many of the merchants |