Dannhauer - 2013 - Deutscher Reishandel 1850 bis 1914 die zentrale R

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international rice trade by Bremen and Hamburg
was also the result of Bremen rice merchants
and millers being able to take better advantage
of these developments. They did so by
reacting appropriately to fluctuations in supply
and demand. They also made better use of their
market knowledge and communication technology.
And they were also successful in improving
factory production by optimising milling techniques.
Andreas Rickmers recognised that there was a
possibility that the rice trade between Europe
and Asia would soon reach a level which would
overstretch the capacity of his fleet. Northern
Germany lagged behind as far as steam shipping
was concerned - both in the construction of
steam ships at the local yards and in the commissioning
of steamships by the shipping lines.
Norddeutscher Lloyd was the only shipping line
in Bremen to operate steam vessels on a large
scale and it did in fact transport rice as a secondary
cargo. In 1881 Andreas Rickmers made an
important contribution to the founding of the
DDG „Hansa“, which was to offer initially a regular
and later a scheduled cargo service between
Bremen and Burma. In doing so, Andreas Rickmers
may have strengthened the competition in
the rice business, but he also reinforced Bremen’s
position as the centre of the international
rice trade and at the same time tightened ties between
commodity suppliers abroad and processors
in Germany. By this time it was not only a
question of connecting producers in Asia with
consumers in Europe and the other continents.
Commodity futures markets had been created
and traders were speculating months in advance
on rising or falling prices or on fluctuations in
the price of Indian wheat, which had an influence
on the price of rice. They also speculated
on the quality of the next rice crop.
In 1881 there were also plans being made for
dredging work on the River Weser. Beginning in
1887, the channel was straightened and deepened.
In 1888, Freihafen I was inaugurated,
which then allowed ocean-going vessels to reach
the city limits of Bremen. With the completion
of this construction work in 1895, Bremen had
easier access to international trading and shipping
routes. A good knowledge of market conditions
combined with excellent rice processing
facilities and a good transport infrastructure all
meant that by 1888 more rice was being imported
to Bremen than to London. Bremen had finally
become the most important international port
in the handling and processing of rice.
Changes in Europe
The eighteen-eighties saw the end of a quarter
century of economic liberalism in Europe. Industrialisation
had been facilitated by the breaking
down of many restrictions resulting from old
labour demarcation rules while at the same time
international commerce benefited from the relaxation
of many import duties. Bremen’s business
leaders had always advocated free trade and
the town now became one of the main beneficiaries
of this development. Some of Germany’s
neighbours, in particular the Netherlands and
Austria, had built up their own rice and starch
industries which had been protected by import
duties. The sourcing of raw material now became
much easier for German millers, but at the
same time competition intensified for sales of
the finished product. The trading of rice across
several continents was no longer restricted to a
few pioneers. Global trade networks were now
very tight and this allowed countries other than
Germany and Britain to claim their share of the
market. The Dutch could reach Germany easily
by simply crossing the Rhine and were able to
compete successfully with producers in Northern
Germany. German markets close to the border
were also supplied from Trieste and Fiume
(Rijeka). This meant that Andreas Rickmers had
to adopt a new business strategy.
Through customs restructuring in Bremen and
Hamburg, the rice mills on the Weser were
placed within the German customs zone and at
a stroke became subject to certain customs duties.
The re-exporting of rice was thus made
more difficult. In Hamburg, on the other hand.
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