The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 3/Industry in the Czechoslovak Republic

by anonymous

Industry in the Czechoslovak Republic

The Central Association of Czechoslovak Industry prepared a survey of economic life in the Czechoslovak Republic. It is based on pre-war data, as fresh data are not yet available, and besides, present conditions are still far from normal. The figures cited are invariably taken from official sources and will be of interest to all those who plan commercial dealings with this new Republic.

 

Starting with mineral resources we come first to iron ore, the foundation of modern industry. The annual production is 2,200,000 metric tons, but most of the ore is not of high grade and contains phosphorus. The home production cannot supply the needs of the iron industry, and there was imported annually about 300,000 tons of high grade ore from Sweden and Norway, and about 100,000 tons from Styria and Bosnia. In the district of Příbram there are ancient lead and silver mines, pretty well exhausted by now, with annual production of 200,000 tons of ore. In central Bohemia are two stamp mills for crushing gold bearing quartz, and there is another mill in Slovakia; from 300 to 400 kilograms of gold are recovered annually. Other metals are found only in insignificant quantities; the only other mineral of importance is uranium and radium found in northern Bohemia near Jáchymov (Joachimsthal). From 1.8 to 3 grams of radium are extracted annually.

Coal, the second basic element of modern industrial life, is mined extensively in the Czechoslovak Republic. There is the so-called stone coal, or soft coal of good quality, worked in Bohemia around Kladno, Pilsen and Trutnov (Trautenau), in Moravia around Rosice and Ostrava, and particularly in the Teschen district, between Karvin and Teschen. The total production of this coal in the Czechoslovak Republic averaged 15,000,000 tons annually. Only the Ostrava coal can be used for making coke, and three and half million tons of it was annually turned into two and a half million tons of coke. This was not sufficient for the needs of domestic industry, and about half a million tons was imported from Germany and Upper Silesia. The other kind of coal, known as brown coal or lignite, is found in great quantities in northern Bohemia and exported largely to Germany. This coal is also found in southern Moravia near Kyjov and in Slovakia near Handlova and Badin. The total production of brown coal in the Czechoslovak Republic was 26 million metric tons a year, and of this amount about 8.4 million tons were exported.

In Kbely in Slovakia is found the only mineral oil well of the Republic. The production is 5000 tons annually, far from sufficient for the needs of the country. In the Czechoslovak Republic there are also several graphite mines, producing annually 30,000 tons. In western Bohemia and especially in Moravia, there are large deposits of china clay and important factories for working it, and there is also fire clay of which large quantities are used by home industries and much also is exported, raw or partly manufactured. The production of coalin or china clay is 180,000 tons, and it is used both in the ceramic and in paper industry, giving employment to 3600 workers in 24 plants. In Slovakia 40,000 tons of magnesite is produced annually for the making of bricks for iron furnaces.

Among building stones the most important one is granite of fine quality of which a great deal is exported down the Elbe and Vltava rivers. Much limestone is quarried, some of it of the best quality for use in beet sugar mills; there is further some marble and various other building stones, from hard porphyry to soft sandstone, used locally. Salt works are found in Slovakia and the autonomous Rusin province of the Czechoslovak Republic, with a production of 60,000 tons of salt, about one fifth of the annual consumption.

Among mineral resources one ought to mention mineral waters in which the Republic is very rich. There are acid waters in Poděbrady, Luhačovice, Koryšnica, Žilina and Lipovec, alcalic waters in Bilina and Šaratice, largely exported. At these springs are established resorts with international reputation, such as Poděbrady with carbonic water, Luhačovice, Pištany, and cures in German part of Bohemia, Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad), Františkovy Lázně (Franzensbad), Mariánské Lázně (Marienbad) and Teplice.

Agriculture has reached a very high stage of development in the Czechoslovak Republic. Rotation of crops is universally employed and artificial fertilizers that have to be in most cases imported are used in great quantities.

The average crop of wheat is 1.4 million tons, rye 1.8, barley 1.7, oats 1.5, corn .25, potatoes 7. The culture of sugar beet is very highly developed, the average crop being about 7.8 million metric tons. Hops is also an important crop, cultivated on 14,500 hectares of land and yielding from 7500 to 16,000 tons. Hops of Žates (Satz) and Rakovník enjoy the very highest reputation in the world markets. Vegetable, sugar beet and clover seeds are cultivated for export. Wine production amounts to 600,000 hectoliters annually; some of it is exported and other wine imported.

Forest culture is handled by the best modern methods. The forests are for the most part planted and cover an area of 4.5 million hectares. The annual cut amounts to 13 million cubic feet, of which about 40% is firewood and 60% used for building purposes, railroad ties, mine timber and pulp.

In 1910 the. following statistics of domestic animals were obtained: 713,000 horses, 4,490,000 head of cattle, 2,650,000 hogs, 1,550,000 sheep, and 19,000,000 poultry.

The principal industries of the Czechoslovak Republic are as follows: Iron and steel making, centered around Prague and Ostrava, produces in 23 furnaces 1,211,000 tons of iron annually. In addition to this much pig iron is imported and worked over in numerous foundries, 11 steel plants and 16 rolling mills. The total capacity of this industry is 298,000 tons of steel for further manufacture, 40,000 tons of iron bars and rails, 130,000 tons of structural iron, 34,000 tons of sheet iron. Most of the steel is manufactured by the Martin process.

Among plants that consume this iron and steel is one factory for spades, one for wire ropes, four plants for cast iron pipes and four for drawn iron pipes, one large factory for the making of files, four for the manufacture of screws and three large plants making nails.

The ceramic industry is one of the important ones. Chinaware is made by some 70 factories in northern Bohemia; they employ 17,000 workmen and produce about 30,000 tons of china, mostly for export, especially colored and decorated china. In addition there is much export of cheaper clay products, like tiles, stoves etc. Preparation of fire resisting clay is conducted by 66 establishments, mostly for export, while fire bricks are manufactured by 27 plants, producing about 300,000 tons annually. There are in the Czechoslovak Republic about 3500 brickyards, employing 40,000 workmen and producing bricks for domestic needs; most of the brickyards are small and not equipped with modern machinery. In addition there are 12 cement manufacturing plants, supplying cement for home consumption.

Glass industry, a Bohemian specialty, is pursued in about 200 factories and employs some 60,000 people, including polishers working at home. Of the product 60% is blown glass, 20% window and plate glass and 15% bottle glass; window and plate glass amounts to 9 million square meters annually, and about 20 million bottles are manufactured each year. Raw material is imported from Saxony. Closely connected with this industry is the manufacture of artificial jewelry in northern Bohemia around Turnov and Jablonec (Gablonz), exported to almost every country of the world. This industry employs about 15,000 workers, for the most part working in their homes. In Prague manufacture of garnet jewelry gives employment to some 12,000 people.

In the neighborhood of Prague, Brno, Pilsen and Ostrava foundry and machine shop industry is highly developed. Large plants turn out steel for structural and bridge work, boilers, locomotives and stationary engines, steam turbines, ship engines, gasoline motors, water turbines; they supply equipment for sugar mills, breweries, distilleries, flour mills and potteries; they employ about 40,000 men. The foundries used, in addition to domestic iron and steel, 150,000 tons of pig iron, 90,000 tons of steel and 100,000 tons of coke, imported from neighboring countries, and of course had to import various steel alloys. The number of locomotives turned out annually is 130, giving employment to 1500 workingmen; four plants produce railroad cars with a capacity of 12,000 cars annually. There are in the Republic five automobile plants, making pleasure cars, trucks and tractors. They produce about 2500 cars and 500 tractors and employ 5000 people.

Electrical industry employs about 4000 workers and supplies the needs of the country in that line. Of greater importance is the manufacturing of agricultural implements; seeding machinery is especially exported. Shops are found in central Bohemia and central Moravia and employ 8500 people. About 60,000 people are engaged in producing hardware and similar metal manufactures; metal buttons in particular are exported.

Brewing is a very important Bohemian industry, and the Pilsen beer is known all over the world; 120 malt houses consume 520,000 tons of barley and export 180,000 tons of malt. There are 676 breweries with annual production of 12.6 million hectoliters of beer; they use up 280,000 tons of barley, 4000 tons of hops and employ 20,000 persons. A considerable part of Bohemian beer is exported.

Distilleries employed 14,000 workers and produced before the war 1.5 million hectoliters of alcohol of which more than a half was exported.

Chemical industries proper employ 25,000 people and follow these lines: making of sulphuric acid and artificial fertilizers, 17 plants with 15 lead chambers, capacity of 350,000 tons of sulphuric acid and 350,000 tons of fertilizers; four plants make soda by the Solvay process out of 80,000 tons of salt, supplying not only domestic needs, but leaving a large part for export; four plants import from Germany Strassfurt salt for the making of potash and various potash combinations; two plants make carbide, about 12,000 tons annually, and one of these two converts it into cyanamide. In central Bohemia there is a factory making carborundum. Four plants make explosives, of which the largest is in Bratislava in Slovakia. Matches are manufactured in 20 factories; production is about 50,000 tons a year. There are further 21 coke ovens and many gas houses whch produce tar and ammoniac; 20,000 tons of sulphate of ammonia is produced. Tar is used for making asphalt, benzol, toluol and derivatives. Several smaller plants for the making of drugs and pharmaceutical chemicals may be found in the Republic, and there are excellently equipped factories for the making of pencils, ink, turpentine, oils and India ink, and other plants for making soap, stearin, margarine etc. Oil refineries number ten; they refine from 24 to 30,000 tank carloads, of which only 500 comes from domestic oil wells near Bratislava; all the rest of the crude oil comes from Galicia, Roumania, Caucasus and America. They produce about 6000 carloads of kerosene, also gasoline, parafine, candles etc., and employ 3000 workers.

Flour milling is highly developed. There are many modern mills and several thousand small water mills. They grind 2.2 million tons of wheat and rye and 0.5 million tons of barley. About 45,000 tons of starch is made annually, mostly from potatoes. One of the great Bohemian industries is making of sugar from sugar beet; there are 161 up-to-date sugar mills producing 11 mill. quintals of sugar of which 8 million is exported. Coffee substitutes are made in 40 plants and largely exported, and about 20 establishments make preserves; 10,000 tons of candy and chocolate are manufactured annually.

All over the country are found co-operative creameries, many of which make also cheese; 56,000 tons of butter and 8000 tons of cheese are produced, not enough for domestic consumption.

Fine smoked meats are made in Prague and many Prague hams are exported; the entire packing industry uses in addition to domestic hogs about 1.1 million hogs from neighboring countries. There are also 11 fish curing plants, using fresh fish from the North and Baltic seas.

Manufacture of wood is of considerable importance. Saw mills number 2700; there are 48 large factories for making of furniture, 22 for making of pulp, 63 for making other wood products. The industry gives employment to 60,000 workmen. Boxes, barrels and railroad ties are made in great quantities; there are 3 plants for impregnating ties and telegraph poles. Much unmanufactured lumber was formerly exported to Germany that will now be worked at home. Basketware, brooms and reed furniture employed 15,000 men and were exported to nearly all foreign countries.

Leather manufacturing plants number about 100; some 40 million skins were used, for the most part brought from other countries; 7400 men were employed. Shoemaking was making great strides before the war, the total production being 30 million pair. The Mackay system is generally used, Goodyear, considerably less. Glovemaking was highly developed and was centered in Prague, giving employment to 1500 people; the gloves were mostly exported.

Textile industry is one of the most important. Cotton spinning in eastern Bohemia and northern Slovakia is carried on in 90 cotton mills with about 4 million spindles and 130,000 looms. The number of employees is 400,000 and the consumption of cotton is 110,000 metric tons annually. Woollen industry is concentrated in Brno (Brunn) and in eastern Bohemia, with 1 million spindles and 33,000 looms; employees number 56,000 and 52,000 tons of wool and 15,000 tons of rags arc brought from abroad for manufacture in the Czechoslovak Republic. There are 25 factories for flax manufacturing with 280,000 spindles and 15,000 workmen; jute is worked over in 15 factories with 6,000 employees; hemp is spun on 6000 spindles by 2000 workmen. About 10,000 workers make carpets from jute and wool.

Garment workers in large shops number 2000, embroidery and Bohemian lace are made at home in many parts of the country, and especially in Slovakia, Bohemian-Moravian highlands and western Bohemia; about 10,000 women make the beautiful Bohemian laces. Weaving of straw hats gave employment to 1200 workers, and making of linen hats and fezzes for the Turkish empire was carried on in 24 factories with 5000 employees.

Underwear for men is made in 14 large plants with 9000 workers and 6000 men and women working at home; the product was for the most part exported. About 150 smaller establishments make underwear for women, especially embroidered garments.

Paper making in view of the extensive forests is highly developed, and in addition to print paper, cardboard and cellulose there was made parchment paper, cigarette paper, coated paper, cartons, etc.

In a country, where everyone can read and does read, publishing business is bound to be important. With this is connected the graphic industry, centered in Prague, which has been making for foreign countries great quantities of colored posters and other advertising matter. But printing machinery is for the most part imported.

Musical instruments, especially cheaper grades, are made extensively in western Bohemia; some 5000 workmen are employed either in the factories or at home. They make cheap string and brass instruments and export them to many countries. Toys are made in many parts of the country in the homes of the people and the industry gives employment to some 10,000 people; the toys are wooden, paper and tin. Another domestic industry is button making from mother of pearl; hair nets are made in some parts of eastern Bohemia.

Tobacco is a state monopoly, concentrated in a few big factories, and the amount consumed annually and imported from abroad is about 10,000 tons.

This brief survey makes it evident that the Czechoslovak Republic is on the whole an industrial country and has to import in normal times large quantities of raw and partly manufactured materials. Its foreign commerce will exceed that of any other country to the southeast of Germany.

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