CONDITIONS IN PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES. 303
plants of its own, and the South-German Cement Selling Agency (Litd.)
(Sitddeutsche Zementverkaufsstelle G. m. b. H.), reorganized as such
in 1904. .
With regard to common sales territories, the various cartels had
made price agreements among themselves, so that virtually the whole
German Portland cement industry was united. In 1900 a reaction set
in, Overproduction caused prices to drop and several of the loose
price cartels went to pieces. Ruinous competition ensued and a
general crisis befell the whole industry. To remedy this situation,
to adapt the supply to the demand, and to prevent a too rapid drop
in prices, recourse was taken to syndication. Strong syndicates
with common selling agencies were ‘formed. In 1905 the Hanoverian
 and the Middle-German syndicatns were organized and the
Rhenish-Westphalian cartel was given a more rigid form. In 1909
the latter combined 35 plants. Agreements were made between the
South-German, the Middle-German, and the Rhenish-Westphalian
syndicates, and between the latter and the Hanoverian, both tending
to control production, prices, and division of territory. The Silesian
syndicate made an agreement with the Middle-German, the Stettin
works, and the A. G. Adler, of Berlin. The Lower-Elbe syndicate
was founded in the same year, and it also made agreements with the
Rhenish-Westphalian, the Hanoverian, and the Middle-German
syndicates. A price convention was formed by the Hanoverian,
Middle-German, Lower Elbe, Silesian, Berlin, and Stettin factories
for dividing up the Berlin market.
In 1909 another crisis came, which was due chiefly to overproduction
 and the building of numerous new factories. Nevertheless in
1910 most of the old cartel agreements were extended and new ones
made. The Silesian and the South-German syndicates made agreements
 with Austrian and Swiss cartels, and a common selling agency
was organized for the Berlin market. The South-German syndicate
extended its agreement till 1925.2
As already stated the cement cartels handle four-fifths of the
German cement exports. The overproduction formerly prevalent
has resulted in a policy of dumping in foreign trade. As all the
cartels are willing to dispose of their surplus production at low prices
they have been able, through this control, to obtain and retain the
bulk of the trade in many foreign countries. While a majority of these
foreign sales were made in Asia, Africa, and continental European
countries, Germany before the war was the largest exporter of cement
to Latin America. In Cuba, American competition can not be met
on account of the 25 per cent tariff. In Argentina and Chile several
great cement works have been built, so that Germany’s prospects
there for the future are not so favorable. In Brazil the customs-E.

 Madelung, op. cit., pp. 28, 49. 51.

2 Thid., p. 53 fol.