Salt Market of the Russian Far East in the Conditions of Import Dependency (1900–1914): Features of Functioning

Abstract

The article examines the state of the salt market in the Russian Far East at the beginning of the 20th century under conditions of dependence on imports, characterizing the quality, prices and volume of salt supplies. Under the high demand for table salt as a product of prime necessity and raw material for the fishing industry, the salt market of the Far East was entirely dependent on imports. While the import of foreign salt to Russia was decreasing, in the Far East it was showing stable growth. The development of the fishing industry in the 1890s stimulated the growth of salt consumption, which local production could not satisfy. Import dependency, which vividly showed up during the Russian-Japanese War, worried both the authorities and entrepreneurs. After the final cancellation of the porto-franco in 1909, salt became a duty-free commodity, which facilitated the access of foreign product to the region. The system of salt supply for the local market by foreign companies, which was formed in the second half of the 19th century, retained its importance. The matter of organizing the supply of the Russian Far East with salt of domestic production was unsettled. The import of salt from the Crimea and the Irkutsk Salt Plant was unprofitable because of the high cost of transportation. During the First World War the region’s dependence on the import of foreign salt remained. Before the war, the main amount of salt for the population and the fishing industry came from Germany, but after the war began, Japan, China and Port Said became the main suppliers.