tions of the various centres for the machine and metal industry in Sweden
has considerable changed in recent times. Gothenburg, for instance, has
shown a remarkable stagnation, while Stockholm has made great progress;
there has been a great advance also in the case of JSTorrland and of Malmo with
the places in its neighbourhood. In the case of Malmo, this is explained by
the great development of industry in general in Skane, which is endowed
by nature with an especially fertile soil, extremely suitable even for the beet
sugar industry, and which possesses a considerable supply of coal and various
raw materials, such as fire-clay etc. A progressive development of
the metal industry is also noticeable at Eskilstuna and the surrounding
district, suggesting that industrial products from" this town have begun to
gain ground on the world’s markets.
With regard to the country’s machine industry in general, there appear
to be grounds for hoping for a still greater development in the near future
than that which has taken place in the last few decades. As a matter of
fact, the progress at present being made is extraordinary and even exceeds
the great development which took place at the beginning of the seventies
of last century, in the years immediately following the Franeo-Prussian
war. At that time also the fires in the furnaces of the machine industry
blazed livelier than ever before, but the liveliness then depended, in many
respects, principally upon foreign capital, which overflowed when the
dams were burst which the war had set up against it. Towards the end
-of the same decade, a decline set in, so that several newly established
undertakings were obliged to stop work or to change hands, while older and
larger establishments which had begun to decline were reorganized. The
development which, is now taking place in the Swedish machine industry
may perhaps be explained principally by the favourable economic conditions
in the world’s markets, but it also appears to be based more than was the
case in the seventies of last century upon the natural resources of the
country, and consequently the hope appears to be justified that it will
continue for a considerable time to come.
Of the more important articles, which are included in the official manufacturing
returns under the two headings7 “Metal Works” and “Vessels,
Carriages, Machines and Implements” which are not always easy to
distinguish from each other the following show the highest value o f
production in 1912:
Articles - Value
Articles 'Value
Diverse iron and steel wares Kr. 40 826 000
Castings of pig iron . . . . > 27 797 000
Diverse machinery, incl. of
instruments1 ....................... > 25 387 000
Electric machines2 . . . . > 24 905 000
Diverse metal wares3 . . . > 23 414 000
Diverse motors4 . . . . . . > 16 972 000
1 Also musical instruments, clocks, and watches. — 2 Dynamo machines, accumulators,
transformers, telegrafic apparatus, telephones, lifts, electric and incandescent lamps. —
3 Of other metals than iron. — 4 Gas-, petroleum-, warm air- and water turbines, but not
steam engines. — 5 Not specified.
Vessels and b o a ts....................Kr. 15970 000
Machines for industry and
trade6 ................................ > 14 352 000
Dairy machines.................... > 13 914000
Machines and implements for
agriculture........................ > 13 094 000
Articles Value Articles Value
Oold rolled iron and steel, Thin sheet i r o n .................... Kr. 4 410 000
incl. of drawn iron wire . Kr. 9 663 000 Tubes of wrought iron and
Railway and tramway cars. 8745 000 steel .................................... » 3 922 000
Plate vessels, tinning goods | ; > • .; 8004 000 Electric wire, covered. . . . y 3 386 000
Gasification lamps and petGuns,
mitrailleuses, rifles, proroleum
stoves.................... » 7 063 000 jectiles ................................ » 2 974 000
Machines for working metals Gold and silver goods . . . 2 817 000
and wood......................... » 6169000 Horse shoes, nails, and frost
Galvanized and etched works » 5 774 000 nails . . . . . . . . . . * 2 803 000
Steam boilers, locomotives, Knives and scissors . . . . » 2 055 000
portable engines . . . . » 5 761000 Joinery goods for machines
Cycles................... » 5 642 000 and implements................ » 1633000
Diverse carriages . . . . . » 5 081000 Chains^cables, and wire ropes » 1 662 000
Nails .................................... » 5 001 000 Saw-blades and saw-blade maCast
metal goods1 ................ » 4 912 000 terials .................................... » 1286 000
'No t iron.
With regard to instruments, watches, and clocks, see Table 95 and also
the articles specially mentioned below.
A summary of the imports and exports of articles under this heading
is given in Table 95. This table testifies to excellent progress in the
Swedish metal and machine industry, exports from 1912 being preponderant.
-The greatly increased importation of machinery, together with the
simultaneous enormous rise in exportation, is one of the often recurring
testimonies of the great industrial development of these years.
The imports and exports of wrought iron and steel goods and of other
wrought metals include a multiplicity of articles, only a few of which
attain to considerable values. Among the imported goods may be specially
Table 95. Import and Export of Metal Goods, Machines, Instruments, etc.1
■ Value in thousands of kronor.
A r t i c l e s
Annually
1871—75
Annually
1876—80
Annually
1881—85
An- Annually
1 nually
1886—9011891—95
Annually
1896—00
Annually
1901—05
Annually
1906—10
Tear
1913
Iron and steel flmp.
goods Exp.
6 846
1458
5 070
1285
7 290
4 227
8 979
4111
10 556
4 735
17 148
7 893
17750
11881
19110
14 569
26 658
46163
Other metal works | J ^ p ’ 2 680
79
2 779
105
4 961
109
5 097
138
7 287
244
8 720
1094
11782
1416
13 935
3 459
17 208
8 538
Vessels and boats 340 96
55
348
25
754
- 762
1330
937
5699
613
6 501
543
6 721
345
8139
.941
Carriages . . . . 222
17
88
68
59
238
224
27
124
41
287
18
412
69
1537
254
5082
1 425
Machines, imple- f Imp.
ments, and tools \Exp.
11555
1137
7 679
1386
8 903
2 483
10 612
2 738
11059
4 076
23 321
9155
20 567
11507
27 908
26835
29 768
59 970
Instruments . . . {I EimxpP.'
571
18
395
13
1037
23
1148
88
1865
331
2 525
1758
2 733
2 823
3 530
3727
5 182!
622
Clocks, watches ( Imp.
and parts . . . \Exp.
1373
10
1780
2
2167
4
2 407
4
3116
9
3 376
10
3 023
14
2 435
10
3097
8
T«“ ® :
23 587
2 719
17 887
2914
24 765
7109
29 221 35 337
7 868| 10 373
61076
20541
62 768 75176
28 253 49 199
95134
117 667
1 The classification corresponds approximately to that adopted in the introduction above.