VEGETABLE OILS AND FATS

Vegetable oils and fats, particularly cottonseed oil, were exported in much smaller quantities during 1920-1924 than before the war. Some of the items included in this class, such as linseed oil, are inedible.

PRINCIPAL VEGETABLE OILS AND FATS EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES [All figures represent thousands]

Exports of cottonseed oil declined from a pre-war annual average of 271,428,000 pounds to 43,343,000 pounds in 1924. One of the principal reasons for this decline, and the decline also in the exports of corn oil, has been the increasing competition in the European markets of such oriental oils as soy bean, peanut, rapeseed, and sesame.

Exports of linseed oil, which is used principally in the manufacture of paints, have not decreased to the same extent as the edible vegetable oils, although with the exception of only one year, 1920, the exports during the past five years have been smaller than the pre-war

average.

FISH

With the exception of canned fish, which is included under canned foods, exports of fish from the United States are insignificant.

PRINCIPAL FISH PRODUCTS EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES

Pickled salmon in barrels is the most important item in the above. table. The exports of this product amounted to 27,000 barrels valued at $1,298,000 in 1924. Exports of dried and cured fish except salmon (which includes haddock, hake, pollock, and herring) amounted to 11,591,000 pounds in 1924, as compared with the pre-war average of 14,045,000 pounds.

MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS

The most important of the miscellaneous items in the foodstuffs trade of the United States are shown in the following table. Under the miscellaneous classification are included all of those items which do not logically belong to any one of the other 11 classes.

PRINCIPAL MISCELLANEOUS FOODSTUFFS EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES [All figures represent thousands]

With the exception of coffee there has been an increase in the exports of all of the important items included in this class of foodstuffs. The increase in the exports of refined sugar is probably the outstanding feature. Exports of refined sugar averaged 70,988,000 pounds during 1910-1914, as compared with the record exports of 1,836,722,000 pounds in 1922 and 440,495,000 pounds in 1924. The decreased production of beet sugar in Europe, particularly in Germany and Russia, is the principal reason for the large postwar exports of refined sugar from the United States.

The inclusion of Porto Rico and Hawaii as customs districts of the United States accounts for the domestic epxorts of coffee. Most of the domestic coffee is exported directly from Porto Rico, but a considerable amount is shipped to New York and New Orleans and exported from those ports. Exports of green coffee have been smaller since 1920 than before the war. The pre-war exports of coffee averaged 44,904,000 pounds, as compared with 26,693,000 pounds in 1924.

Exports of glucose have averaged considerably higher in post-war years than during 1910-1914, and the same is true of cornstarch and hops. The value of exports of confectionery from the United States has averaged $2,000,000 during the past three years, as compared with $1,000,000 before the war.

LEADING MARKETS FOR UNITED STATES FOODSTUFFS

The preceding sections have dealt with the exports of foodstuffs by classes of commodities. It will be of value now to examine the tendency in the foodstuffs trade as regards destinations, or markets. Below are shown the exports of foodstuffs to the 15 leading markets. These countries take 90 per cent of the foodstuffs exported from the United States.

This table divides foodstuffs into animal and vegetable products and shows the amounts going to the principal countries during the past two years. Only Germany, Cuba, and Mexico consistently take more animal products (such as meats and animal fats and oils) than vegetable products (such as cereals; fruits, and vegetables). In spite of the fact that canned milk is an important item in the trade with China and Japan, these countries take a very small percentage of food products of animal origin.

The percentage change in the foodstuffs exports to the various markets is also shown in the preceding table. The variations are fairly accurately presented in every case except that of Canada. A large part of the reported increase in the exports of foodstuffs to that country was made by wheat and rye which were not consumed within the country but were on the way to Europe. The actual Canadian importation from the United States in 1924 of foodstuffs for consumption was probably very little, if any, larger than in 1923.

The following table shows the percentage, by value, of the total foodstuffs exports going to the 15 leading markets:

PER CENT OF TOTAL VALUE OF UNITED STATES FOODSTUFFS EXPORTED T LEADING MARKETS

The European countries included in this table take over 95 per cent of the direct exports of foodstuffs from the United States to Europe. By no means all of the total foodstuffs reported as exported to these countries is actually consumed therein. A certain part of the exports reported as going to Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium, for example, are subsequently transshipped. Czechosiovakia is shown as a very small market for American foodstuffs, far as the export statistics are concerned, but considerable amounts of these products find their way into that country through Germany. Furthermore, it is very important in considering the proportion of foodstuffs exported to the various foreign markets to take into account the large transshipment trade through Canada. This factor will be treated more in detail under the discussion of Canada. It is sufficient to point out here that, on the average, during the past three years not more than 60 per cent of the foodstuffs reported as going to Canada has been actually consumed within the country. Practically all of the remaining 40 per cent goes to Europe. Since the transshipment trade was much smaller before the war, the percentage figures need no adjustment for the year 1912-13. In 1924. however, after allowance is made for shipments through Canada, it is estimated that Europe took 66 per cent of the total foodstuffs exported from the United States as compared with 70.5 per cent in 1912-13. North American countries, including Canada, Mexico, and Cuba, took 17 per cent last year, against 13.4 per cent in 1912-13. On the adjusted basis, Canada alone took 7 per cent of the total iz 1912-13 and 9 per cent in 1924. The oriental countries-China. Japan, and the Philippine Islands-took 4.7 per cent in 1924, as compared with 3.4 per cent in 1912-13.

In the following pages each of the 15 leading markets for foodstuffs is considered separately and the significant features of the trade with each are pointed out.

UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom is not only the largest market for the United States foodstuffs as a whole, but it is also the largest market for most of the individual items. The principal foodstuffs exported from the United States to the United Kingdom during 1923 and 1924 are shown in the table immediately following:

The United Kingdom is the largest market for the world's surplus meat products. The United States is the principal source of hams and shoulders and lard, and, together with Denmark, supplies the British market with bacon. Less hams and bacon were exported to the United Kingdom from the United States in 1924 than in 1923, but the exports of lard increased. Pork loins and sausage casings are the only other important meat items exported to the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom is normally the best market for wheat grain from the United States. In recent years the exports to Canada have been recorded as larger, but since practically all of the wheat exported to Canada is for reshipment, the British Isles may be considered our largest market for this cereal. The United Kindgom is also the most important market for wheat flour, although in 1924 the Netherlands took a larger amount. Larger quantities of barley and corn are shipped to the United Kingdom than to any other country. As in the case of wheat, a larger amount of corn is reported as going to Canada than to the United Kingdom, but this is largely transshipment. Much of the corn shipped through Canada goes in the summer, when a cooler route is desirable.

Canned fruit makes up a very important item in the exports to the United Kingdom. In 1924 the exports of canned fruit to that market amounted to 176,724,000 pounds, or 78 per cent of the total exports from the United States. The principal items in this trade, and the quantity of each, were as follows: Pears, 52,848,477 pounds; peaches, 52,622,141 pounds; and apricots, 31,770,461 pounds.

The United Kingdom is also ordinarily the largest market for dried fruit, although it was surpassed in this respect by Germany in 1924. Prunes and raisins are the leading dried fruits exported to the British Isles.

The United Kingdom is the largest market for apples, taking in 1924, 62 per cent of the boxed apples and 83 per cent of the barreled