Coll 28/41 ‘Persia. Trade Reports. Kerman 1924–’ [‎108r] (215/313)

7
ef foreign firms. In 1908 the whole of the business
was in Persian hands.
Material and Labour
commission,
etc.
Quan
tity and
rate.
Cost.
Cost pro
gressive
total.
Rbmarkp.
f.
d.
f.
d.
wool
10 oz.
0
10
0
10
There is a loss of
weight of 25
per cent.
Cleaning and Carding
wool
0
2-8
0
12-8
Cleaning and
Carding.
Cotton Warp and
woof.
S oa.
0
40
0
1
16-8
Dyeing .
0
80
2
0-3
Weaving
4
1
6
1-8
This is taking
weavers pay at
Krs. 4 a day
and putting his
output at 9,600
stitches a day.
Manufacturers com
mission.
15 per
cent.
0
11
7
•8
Repairs and Clipping
0
*
7
IS
Packing .
0
i
8
1-8
Inland Freight
0
i
8
205
legalization fee
0
i
8
2 3
Sea Freight . .
0
i
8
2-55
Insurance
0
1*
8
4 05
American Customs .
55 per
cent, ad
valorem.
4
7
12
11 05
Chemical treatment |
in America.
0
8
13
705
Wholesale profit
..
6
0
7
Retail profit .
10
0
29
7
New Industries.
The Oriental Carpet Manufacturers have erected a
wool carding factory An East India Company trading post. at Kerman.
A cotton ginning plant of American origin has
been erected at Rafsinjan with an output of one ton
a day. The ginned cotton is said to fetch a better
price at Bombay than hand ginned cotton.
Demand for foreign Machinery.
Spimiing Machinery.
There is a proposal on foot to erect a cotton mill
at Kerman or Rafsinjan. The proposal is still in
embryo but the situation is being watched and the
proposition will be put up to British firms as soon
as further data are available.
Electricity.
In the Kerman Province there are at present only
two power plants (both installed in 1929)—One a
10 H.P. oil engine at Rafsinjan for running a cotton
gin and the other a 22 H.P. Ruston Hornby engine at
Kerman for carding cotton. Both also generate
current for local use. There is undoubtedly a consi
derable opening for power plants and electric light
installation but without some active interest by the
firm, who could supply the machinery, it is difficult i
to make any progress. In this respect the Russians J
are in a much stronger position. They are actively ;
interested in supplying electric light for Kerman and f
have had an engineer here to go into the matter and •
frame provisional estimates. For the moment the f
Governor-General has intervened and is endeavour
ing to persuade the Russians to generate current
using as fuel a low grade coal about 15 miles from <
Kerman.
Demand for foreign Machinery.
Among the demands for foriegn machinery may be
cited the following :—
Spinning Machinery.
Persia imports every year about 2,500 tons of yarn
(95 per cent. No. 20). A number of Persian mer
chants are considering the possibility of establishing
milling machinery to spin about 500 tons of yarn a
year from the locally grown cotton.
Pumping Machinery.
Water for irrigation is very valuable. In the
neighbourhood of Kerman water is found in wells at
about 55 feet depth and raised by bullocks working
a Persian wheel. In an average well million
gallons a year is raised at a cost of about £100
sufficient to irrigate 3£ acres. It would seem that
water could be raised by a mechanical pump at a
considerably cheaper rate.
Mines.
There is evidence of considerable mineral wealth
in the Kerman Province. However, the somewhat
cursory examination by geologists in the past have
yielded only negative results, except as regard to
copper.
Among the mineral deposits which are known to
exist may be cited the following :—
Asbestos.
Mica.
Turquoises.
Coal.
Copper.
Copper at present offers the most promising field.
The mines on the Bahr-i-Asman range were examined
by a British engineer on behalf of the Kerman mining
syndicate in 1921, who reported that they could be
worked probably only a small European party with
a capital of £5,000. The best specimens of ore gave
a percentage of copper of 19-3 per cent. The mines
were again examined by a party of German engineers
in 1927, who reported that the deposits justified a
full scale exploitation. Their analysis of ore speci
mens gave approximately the same results as those
obtained in 1921.