32 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.

ting to 2} per cent of the entire production of the Pig Iron Union.
This means that the syndicate might crumble to pieces, should an
independent smelter arise having an annual production of 84,000
tons.
Products —Products handled are pig iron, gray iron, malleable
iron spiegel.
Extent of monopoly of the home market—The Pig Iron Union
controls about 97 per cent of its line in the German market.
Extent of monopoly of exports—The Pig Iron Union controls
about 97 per cent of all crude iron exports.
Selling methods at home—Pig iron is marketed by the Pig Iron
Union through dealers’ unions, of which there are five, dividing
the Germany-Luxemburyg territory into five parts, almost exactly the
same as we have seen in Bs case of steel and coal.
Selling methods abroad.—The Pig Iron Union has fixed the
quotas of the members for export, so as to prevent unnecessary dumping.
 The union follows the same lines as those set down by the
Steel Works Union.
Character of competition.~In iron as in coal the Duy dais of the
various mines vary. Large foundries therefore are desirous always
of having their pig and spiegel from the same smelters and mines
in order to have as nearly as possible a uniform raw material.
About 20 per cent: of the entire crude-iron production of Germany
goes into castings. Selling methods therefore are not so much price
or quality as the supplying of a uniform product to the customers of
the union. Price, Swi) is an important factor and is influenced
to a marked extent by foreign competition in connection with transportation
 facilities. For instance, the Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck
 smelters and steel plants in Stettin and Liibeck were located
at those points with the express purpose of profiting by cheap water
transportation for coal from England and ores from Swan The
price abroad for coal and ore plus transportation is always a determining
 factor in the iron prices at home.
Central selling organization.—Pig Iron Union, Essen, is itself
a central selling company.
Terms of sale and delivery —As is the case for coal and iron and
potash and other bulk material, the terms of payment are cash before
the 15th of the following month after delivery.
Dumping. —Dumping is a factor as in the case of coal and steel.
To compensate for dumping, the union pays a refund of 4.50 to 4.75
marks Yst.o7 to $1.13) per ton for all exports. This also applies
to finished cast iron such as radiators, stoves, and hundreds of others
for which the iron was purchased from the Pig Iron Union.
Special relations to the home government.—The relations to the
home government are friendly; the German Government tries to
encourage big business, but at the same time protect workingmen,
the public, and smaller firms from exploitation.
Relations to other business interests at home.—These relations are
close, inasmuch as the great mixed firms, who mine ore and coal and
smelt them and make steel, are in all the syndicates controlling these
various products. The link between the coal and the iron syndicate
is formed by the so-called smelter mines (Hiittenzechen). This close
interrelation has been explained under coal and steel, iron being only
one step in the process. The Pig Iron Syndicate really has im-