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‹Better GutenbergThe Handbook of Soap ManufactureChapter XI — Statistics of the Soap Industry · 12 of 16Contents›

The Handbook of Soap Manufacture

by W. H. Simmons and H. A. Appleton

12 of 16 · Contents · Download EPUB

Chapter XI Statistics of the Soap Industry

Until the year 1853 the amount of soap produced annually in this country was readily obtainable from the official returns collected for the purpose of levying the duty, and the following figures, taken at intervals of ten years for the half century prior to that date, show the steady development of the industry during that period:—

Year.Manufactured.Consumed.Exported.Duty per Ton.
Cwts.Cwts.Cwts.£
1801509,980482,14026,79021
1811678,570651,78026,79021
1821875,000839,29035,71028
18311,098,210955,360142,85028
18411,776,7901,517,860258,93014
18511,937,5001,741,070196,43014

Since the repeal of the soap duty, the revenue from which had reached about £1,000,000 per annum, no accurate means of gauging the production exists, but it is estimated that it has nearly quadrupled during the last fifty-five years, being now some 7,000,000 or 8,000,000 cwt. per annum.

The number of soap manufacturers in the United Kingdom is nearly 300, and the amount of capital invested in the industry is roughly estimated to approach £20,000,000 sterling.

Official figures are still available for the amount and value of soap annually imported and exported to and from the United Kingdom, the returns for the last eight years being:—

Imports

Household.Toilet.Total.13
Year.Quantity.Value.Quantity.Value.Quantity.Value
Cwts.£Cwts.£Cwts.£
1900............191,233244,345
1901............302,555315,026
1902............361,851429,300
1903273,542284,37625,74998,032462,959499,407
1904254,425268,40817,96281,162383,122438,966
1905274,238279,04419,63198,507473,067500,430
1906309,975311,11418,554101,243399,070468,086
1907228,035263,96518,24499,432504,710545,385

Household and toilet soaps were not given separately prior to 1903.

The imports during the last three years for which complete figures are obtainable, came from the following sources:—

Household Soap

1904.1905.1906.
£££
From Netherlands4,3153,6203,368
France14,33917,78324,747
Italy24,20918,12932,972
United States218,740235,612242,294
Other Foreign Countries6,7853,8737,448
Total from Foreign Countries268,388279,017310,829
Total from British Possessions2027285
Total268,408279,044311,114

Toilet Soap

1904.1905.1906.
£££
From Germany3,5093,5163,001
Netherlands5,9375,7735,919
Belgium1,5681,8613,145
France7,1207,6335,794
Italy1,1762551,233
United States59,86374,51678,382
Other Foreign Countries166147196
Total from Foreign Countries79,33993,70197,670
Total from British Possessions1,8234,4113,225
Total81,16298,112100,895

Exports

The exports from the United Kingdom during the past eight years have been as follows:—

Household.Toilet.Total.14
Year.Quantity.Value.Quantity.Value.Quantity.Value.
Cwts.£Cwts.£Cwts.£
1900............874,214939,510
1901............947,485999,524
1902............1,051,6241,126,657
1903998,995900,81438,372217,9281,057,1641,143,661
19041,049,022955,77440,406228,5741,108,1741,208,712
19051,167,9761,013,83743,837248,4251,230,3101,284,727
19061,131,2941,009,65346,364261,1861,210,5981,309,556
19071,114,6241,095,17050,655280,1861,240,8051,459,113

Household and toilet soaps were not given separately prior to 1903.

The exports for the last three years for which complete figures are available, consisted of the following:—

Household Soap

1904.1905.1906.
£££
To Sweden3,0272,9113,677
Norway4,1733,9216,005
Netherlands39,42041,19748,601
Dutch Possessions in the Indian Seas8,58610,2937,746
Belgium73,99651,5837,729
France11,74112,22222,907
Portuguese East Africa28,98742,98140,478
Canary Islands24,76327,86427,579
Italy2,8423,1873,962
Turkey6,9747,8585,897
Egypt12,1109,46712,035
China (exclusive of Hong-Kong and Macao)49,235114,15689,169
United States3,8851,9753,924
Columbia3,6015011,364
Ecuador3,0753,0966,861
Chili5,9724,8659,203
Brazil35,19728,19831,726
Argentine Republic7,8028,95413,084
Other Foreign Countries40,05853,91477,687
Total to Foreign Countries365,444429,143419,634
To Channel Islands5,3018,3287,968
Gibraltar13,27213,86812,661
British West Africa—
Gold Coast22,59818,51323,423
Lagos7,7518,0329,518
Nigerian Protectorate14,94215,29920,951
Cape of Good Hope158,517143,750136,388
Natal74,84871,87446,771
British India—
Bombay (including Kurachi)59,40668,94577,867
Madras6,3646,69710,355
Bengal, Eastern Bengal and Assam.26,53423,08722,648
Burmah26,38935,72737,103
Straits Settlements and Dependencies26,51632,21439,749
Hong-Kong14,11915,15315,685
British West India Islands74,06958,88167,331
British Guiana12,66112,02311,557
Other British Possessions47,04352,30350,044
Total to British Possessions590,330584,694590,019
Total955,7741,013,8371,009,653

Toilet Soap

1904.1905.1906.
£££
To Germany5,0516,3226,620
Belgium3,7303,2653,355
France7,9038,9889,324
Portuguese East Africa2,2153,9734,658
Egypt2,3023,3503,525
China (exclusive of Hong-Kong and Macao)3,0963,1153,645
Japan (including Formosa)3,3004,6493,382
United States50,04350,66852,124
Brazil1,8792,2412,292
Other Foreign Countries22,00226,08129,214
Total to Foreign Countries101,521112,652118,139
To Cape of Good Hope14,09414,81514,988
Natal8,89711,9137,280
British India—
Bombay (including Kurachi)24,66524,67228,316
Madras4,3335,8516,624
Bengal, Eastern Bengal and Assam14,12916,02115,969
Burmah3,2993,4004,667
Straits Settlements and Dependencies3,5905,0924,798
Ceylon and Dependencies12,21011,11812,854
Australia—
Western Australia1,5491,3941,137
South Australia, (including Northern Territory)895644637
Victoria11,98913,61412,774
New South Wales3,9204,2784,139
Queensland9571,0971,108
Tasmania482315547
New Zealand5,0934,4985,503
Canada6,3826,1968,185
Other British Possessions11,06910,85513,521
Total to British Possessions127,053135,773143,047
Total228,574248,425261,186

The following statistics extracted from official consular reports, etc., show the extent of the soap industry in other parts of the world.

United States.—According to the Oil, Paint and Drug Report the total production of soap in the United States during 1905, exclusive of soap products to the value of $1,437,118 made in establishments engaged primarily in the manufacture of other products, reached a value of $68,274,700, made up in the following manner:—

Quantity.Value.
Lbs.$
Hard soaps...56,878,486
Tallow soap846,753,79832,610,850
Olein soap29,363,3761,363,636
Foots soap85,000,1333,090,312
Toilet soaps, including medicated, shaving, and other special soaps130,225,4179,607,276
Powdered soaps, sold as such120,624,9684,358,682
All other soaps143,390,9576,097,670
Soft soap33,613,416667,064
Special soap articles...554,881

France.—This country exported common soap during 1906 to the value of £556,000, or £8,000 more than in 1905.

The chief centre of the soap industry is Marseilles, which, with about fifty soap factories, produces annually some 3,000,000 cwts.

Germany imported in 1905 soap and perfumery to the value of £3,032, that exported amounting to £15,364.

In Saxony there are eighty soap factories.

Russia.—There are fifty large soap factories in Russia, the annual output from which is about 2,250,000 cwt.

Roumania.—This country possesses about 230 small and eighteen large soap and candle factories, most of which produce only common soap, there being only one firm—in Bucharest—which makes milled soaps.

Denmark.—In this country there are some 200 small soap factories.

Australia.—According to a Board of Trade report, there were ninety-eight soap and candle factories in Australia in 1905, employing 1,568 hands, and producing 495,036 cwt. of soap.

Queensland.—In 1905 this country contained twenty-one soap and candle works, in which 142 hands were employed, and having an output valued at £86,324.

Hong-Kong.—There are about twenty-four soap factories on this island.

Japan.—A Swiss consular report states that in Japan there are now some fifty soap works, producing about 15,000,000 tablets monthly.

Fiji Islands.—These possess only one soap factory, the output from which is 9 cwt. daily.

The following table, compiled from various consular and other official returns, shows the quantity and value of soap imported into different countries and places during the years 1905-7:—

Household.Toilet.Total.
Place and Date.Quantity.Value.Quantity.Value.Quantity.Value.
Europe—
Cyprus, 1905...............£9,983
Iceland, 1906...............£6,423
Switzerland, 1906............1,702,800 kilos....
Turkey............About 1,800,000 lb. per annum...
Africa—
Algeria, 190613,609 tons£228,640............
Cape Colony, 190615,897,800 lb.£145,000427,600 lb..........
Gold Coast, 1906...............£23,987
Lourenço, Marques, 1906357,638 lb.£4,29336,000 lb.£2,195......
Natal, 19064,263,000 lb....9,870 lb..........
Orange River Colony, 19062,382,000 lb.£23,0001,748 lb..........
Pemba, 1905...............£1,092
Rhodesia, 1906257,600 lb....2,909 lb..........
Southern Nigeria, 1905...............£11,990
Tangier...............£4,554
Transvaal, 19064,407,000 lb.£81,000202,200 lb..........
Tripoli, 1905...............£6,080
Tunis, 1906............1,539 tons£23,727
Zanzibar, 1906...............£6,102
America—
Bahia, 1906............1,031 tons606,046 milreis
Brazil, 1906............1,782 tons from U.K....
British Guiana, 1906-7...............£13,733
Canada, 1906-7...............$600,999
Columbia, 1906—
Cartagena............65,991 tons...
Barranquilla............814,671 lb.$14,712
Costa Rica, 1906...............£1,269 from U.K.
Ecuador, 1904............759,034 kilos....
Granada, 1905...............£3,867
Guatemala, 1906...£900............
Martinique, 1906693,269 kilos.£6,955............
Mexico, 1905-6...£5,982............
San Domingo, 1906............754,587 lb....
St. Vincent, 1905-6...............£1,375
Surinam, 1906...£3,9051,142 tons.........
Trinidad, 1906-7...............£29,967
United States, 1905...$399,797...$1,071,446...$1,471,243
Asia--
Ceylon, 1906...............423,700 rupees
China, 1906...............£216,042
Hangchow, 1906...............£5,888
India, 1906-7............183,998 cwts.£215,210
Kiungchow, 1905...£575............
Shanghai, 1905...............£93,256
Smyrna, 1906............261 tons...
Australasia--
Australia, 1906......891,117 lb.£65,840......
Fiji, 1906...............£1,760
New Zealand, 1905...............£36,843
Philippine Islands, 1905...............£9,137

Exports

Household.Toilet.Total
Place and DateQuantity.Value.Quantity.Value.Quantity.Value
Europe--
Candia, Crete, 1906............2,200 tons.£34,000
Greece...............About 500,000 Fr. per annum.
Italy, 19073,992,800 kilos.£95,840............
Leghorn, 1906............1,521 tons.£37,065
Spain, 19054,750,996 kilos.£98,840............
Switzerland, 1906............77,300 kilos....
Africa--
Cape Colony, 1906200 lb................
Natal, 190675,225 lb................
Seychelles, 1906............419,329 kilos.129,590 Rs.
America--
New Orleans, 1906...............£55,534
Perambuco, 1906............3,582 tons.1,087,797,150 rei.
United States, 190544,110,949 lb.......$1,042,185......
Asia--
Japan, 1906...............£83,877
Smyrna, 1906............322 tons....

Footnotes

13 Including soap powder and soap stock.

14 Including soap powder and soap stock.

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