II. Mines and Minerals.
Mining is one of the most important departments of Swedish industry, and the working of the iron mines in particular is making constant progress by the introduction of new machinery. There were raised in the year 1896, throughout the Kingdom, 2,038,094 tons of iron ore. The pig-iron produced amounted to 487,147 tons; the bar iron to 321,615 tons. Of iron ore in 1895 800,452 tons, and in 1896 1,150,695 tons were exported; of pig-iron, 86,368 tons in 1895, and 71,343 in 1896; of bar iron, 177,086 in 1895, and 180,372 in 1896. There were also raised in 1896 15,381 tons of silver and lead ore, 27,351 tons of copper ore, 44,041 tons of zinc ore, and 2,056 tons of manganese ore. The gold produced amounted to 114.53 kilogrammes, the silver to 2,082, the lead to 1,518,419, the copper to 248,586. There are not inconsiderable veins of coal in the southern parts of Sweden, giving 225,878 tons of coal in 1896. In 1896 there were 27,994 persons engaged in mining.
Commerce.
The total customs duties levied were in 1895 39,466,186 kronor, in 1896 42,339,086 kronor, and in 1897 43,755,018 kronor. The value of the imports subject to duty in 1896 was 217,351,729 kronor; and of duty-free imports, 140,962,989 kronor.
The imports and exports of Sweden have been as follows:—
| — | 1890 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kronor | Kronor | Kronor | Kronor | Kronor | Kronor | |
| Imports | 377,187,739 | 360,315,855 | 332,689,289 | 351,173,005 | 344,290,247 | 358,314,718 |
| Exports | 304,591,863 | 329,300,154 | 328,271,667 | 298,625,234 | 311,434,290 | 340,283,042 |
The following were the values of the leading imports and exports for two years:—
| — | Imports 1895 |
Imports 1896 |
Exports 1895 |
Exports 1896 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kronor | Kronor | Kronor | Kronor | |
| Textile manufactures | 43,394,575 | 41,671,033 | 7,265,867 | 8,004,445 |
| Corn and flour | 26,284,212 | 38,248,993 | 6,502,983 | 5,624,517 |
| Colonial wares | 42,849,293 | 41,851,757 | 713,556 | 652,338 |
| Raw textile material and yarn | 35,835,101 | 35,466,710 | 1,224,047 | 1,287,892 |
| Minerals, of imports mostly coal | 43,787,064 | 45,114,786 | 10,387,749 | 13,178,748 |
| Metal goods, machinery, &c. | 37,462,115 | 43,941,208 | 13,674,947 | 16,830,248 |
| Live animals and animal food | 15,953,946 | 18,668,472 | 65,755,099 | 64,332,767 |
| Hair, hides, and other animal products | 20,688,201 | 19,897,595 | 4,615,320 | 5,037,046 |
| Metals, raw and partly wrought | 8,396,101 | 9,527,708 | 33,045,476 | 35,332,642 |
| Timber, wrought and unwrought | 4,424,663 | 4,512,386 | 139,909,132 | 152,090,709 |
| Paper and paper manufactures | 3,832,457 | 3,909,256 | 7,796,817 | 8,319,939 |
| Other articles | 61,382,519 | 65,468,814 | 20,543,297 | 22,591,751 |
| Total | 344,290,247 | 358,314,718 | 311,434,290 | 340,283,042 |
The values of imports and exports are calculated according to average prices in Swedish port, exclusive of Customs duties. For most of these average prices merchants are consulted by the Board of Trade (Kommers-Kollegium), and the values thus obtained are published in the Board's annual report on commerce. The quantities in the Customs'
