Monthly Survey of Business Conditions in India May 1950

In the market for tea only two sales were held duing the month under review demand was strong at the time of the first sale but it cosiderably weakened at the time of the second sale which was the last of the old season and prices registered a notable drop. [...] The main reason for the decline in production appears to be the closure of the mills for 10 days in fulfilment of part of the obligations to workers in respect of holidays with pay under the Factories Act. [...] The following table gives the statistics of total production of jute manufatures as reported by the mills in the manbership of the Indian Jute MillsAssociation: Production of Jute Manufactures. [...] The estimate generally covers the period upto the end of December 1949 and the beginning of January 1950 and till then the condition of the crop was reported to be satisfactory. [...] Similarly the markets for castorseed displayed a steady tendency but at Salem the price was generally lower than in the previous month and at Bombay the price which was lower during the first half of the month moved up during the second half of the month and was higher than in the prvious month.