In London in shillings per cwt. XI. The prices of Sugar in London and in Paris. It is not unnecessary to give here the comparative prices of sugar in London and in Paris : 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 Those with * are sold F.O.B. Hamburg as beet sugars, and F.O.B. Paris, as Cube and Loaf Say quality. XII. The Retail price of Sugar. M. D'AULNIS DE BOUROUILL, the delegate of the Netherlands, at the Brussels Conference, in his essay on Les Primes à l'exportation des sucres (p. 61), examined and commented on the price of sugar in the grocer's shop in France. He took the price on the London market, which is the rate of the world's markets. This was 13s. 9d. per cwt. during January 1899, equivalent to 34 fr. per 100 kilog. The wholesale price in Paris stood at 103 fr. per 100 kilog., while the retail price at the grocer's shop was 1 fr. 10 per kilog. Thus the grocer's profit was only 7 fr. per 100 kilog., or 0 fr. 07 per kilog. M. d'Aulnis de Bourouill analysed the price of 1 fr. 10 per kilog., thus: ... 1. World's quotation in London, per kilog 0.34 2. Grocer's profit ... 3. Average home consumption duty at 60 fr. less 8 fr. 75 per 100 kilog. ... 4. Manufacture duty (1 fr. per 100 kilog.) 5. Refining duty (4fr. per 100 kilog.) 6. Redevance (0 fr. 30 per 100 kilog.) 7. Indirect export premium (8.75 per 100 kilog.) ... 0.07 ... 0.5125 ... 0.01 ... 0.04 8. Direct export premium (2 fr. 77 per 100 fr. 1.0907 In round figures therefore, 1 fr. 10. Thus consumers are charged 1 fr. 10 per kilog. of sugar, when they ought to be charged 0 fr. 41, including retail grocers' profit ; this means an overcharge of 0 fr. 69. But these figures are not correct: they exaggerate the grocer's profit. In January, 1899, the price of loaf sugar in the London market was 13s. 9d. per cwt.: in Paris the rate was 103 fr. per 100 kilog. But what grocers sell at 110 fr., i.e. Î fr. 10 per kilog. is not loaf sugar, but sugar ranged in boxes, a quality which is from 3 fr. 50 to 4 fr. dearer than loaf, on account of package, labour, waste, etc. To estimate the grocer's profit at 0 fr. 07 per kilog, as M. de Bourouill does, without taking into account the various expenses which the article has undergone, and without taking heed of the quality supplied, is evidently a mistake. 1. World's market price in London ... 34.20 2. This is not the proper place for the grocer's profit, besides it is wrongly estimated at 0.07. We will leave it for the moment. 3. Average consumption duty. There is no average duty for the consumer, there is a fixed duty of 60 fr. ... ... ... The duty paid by refiners, viz., by consumers, must not be confused with what is produced by the duty out of which the premiums (boni) are granted to sugar manufacturers. 4. Manufacturing duty, 1 fr. This duty has nothing to do with refined sugar. The manufacturing duty does not overlap the refining duty. The former is paid on sugars which do not go into the refineries, while the latter is paid on sugars which go through the refineries. 5. Refining duty 6. Redevance 0 fr. 30 per 100 kilog. (?). We do not know such a tax. The only service tax we know is the one of 0 fr. 30 per ton of roots paid by sugar manufacturers for the veri ... ... ... ... 60" 499 fication of surplus yields. This tax is paid out of the manufacturing premiums, and refined sugar has nothing to do with it. 7. Indirect export premium. M. d'Aulnis de Bourouill confuses this with the production premium. 8. Direct export bounty. In January, 1899, this bounty was 3 fr. 11 for refined sugar, and not 2 fr. 77 ... ... ... 3 11 ... 101 31 To this must be added : 9. Tax for the supervision of refineries, O fr. 04 for every 100 kilog. sold ... ... 0 04 Comparing therefore the price of 13/9 per cwt. for loaves in London-which is 34 fr. 20 exactly per 100 kilog.-with the price of 103 fr. for loaves in Paris, we arrive at the following figures : Showing that on account of all sorts of duties and bounties, sugar which costs 34 fr. 20 in London is raised to 101 fr. 35 in Paris. Supposing that the grocer buys at 103 fr. he has to add the following charges to his cost price: 1. Carriage from the refinery to the railway station or to his shop, which is never less than 0 fr. 30 per 100 kilog. 2. We will not take into account any railway or steamer carriage, as we will suppose that the grocer lives in Paris, but should his business be in the provinces another 1 fr. 50 per 100 kilog. will have to be added on an average, and more than that if he lives in remote parts. 3. We have also said that the retail rate of 110 fr. was for ranged sugars, which cost about 4 fr. more per 100 kilog. The grocer therefore has to pay : Price quoted for loaves ... ... 103 Carriage (minimum) Total ... and he sells at 110 fr. ... 107 30 Thus, by selling at 1 fr. 10 per kilog., his maximum profit is 0 fr. 027 per kilog., or 2 fr. 70 per 100 kilog., a profit out of which he has to pay his working expenses, salaries, etc., etc. It is a well-known fact that sugar is sold at a sacrifice in the retail trade; the article leaves no profit. Those most interested in freeing sugar from encumbrances and in suppressing the bounties are the grocers, who are driven by the competition to bear the full burden of the duty. XIII. Variations in the Prices of Raw and Refined Sugars. WHILE the fluctuations in the rates of refined sugars under taxation vary from 1, 2, 3, up to 8 per cent., prices of white sugar No. 3 fluctuate from 15 to 20 per cent. |