All about coffeeUkers, William H. (William Harrison)
History
All about coffee
Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)
Coffee; Coffee Industry; Drinking customs
In recent times, of course, the big disturbing element in the coffee
trade was the World War. Whole countries were cut out of the market,
shipping was drained away from every sea lane, stocks were piled high in
exporting ports, prices were fixed, imports were sharply restricted, and
the whole business of coffee trading was thrown out of joint. To what
extent has the world returned to normal in this trade? Were the
stoppages in trade merely temporary suspensions, or are they to prove
permanent? How are the old, long-worn channels filling up again, now
that the dams have been taken away?
We are now far enough removed from the war to begin to answer these
questions. We find our answer in the export figures of the chief
producing countries, which for the most part are now available in detail
for one or two post-war years. These figures are given in the tables
below; and for comparison, there are also given figures showing the
distribution of exports in 1913 and in an earlier year near the
beginning of the century. These figures, of course, do not necessarily
give an accurate index to normal trade; as in any given year some
abnormal happening, such as an exceptionally large crop or a revolution,
may affect exports drastically as compared with years before and after.
But normally the proportions of a country's exports going to its various
customers are fairly constant one year after another, and can be taken
for any given year as showing approximately the coffee currents of that
period.
The figures following are for the calendar year unless the fiscal year
is indicated. Where figures could not be obtained from the original
statistical publications, they have been supplied as far as possible
from consular reports.
BRAZIL. The war naturally increased the dependence of Brazil on its
chief customer, and the proportion of the total crop coming to this
country since the war has continued to be large. Shipments to United
States ports in 1920 represented about fifty-four percent of the total
exports. Figures for that year indicate also that France and Belgium
were working back to their normal trade; but that Spain, Great Britain,
and the Netherlands were taking much less coffee than in the year just
before the war. Germany was buying strongly again, her purchases of
72,000,000 pounds being about half as much as in 1913. Shipments to
Italy were four times as heavy as in 1913. The natural return to normal
was much interfered with by speculation and valorization. Brazil seems
to have come through the cataclysmic period of the war in better style
than might have been expected.
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