| Foreword.-in
respect to total production per year, oil of camphor is
undoubtedly the most important of essential oils, outranking
even oils of eucalyptus and citronella. In 1936, for example,
the island of Formosa and Japan proper produced about
9,000 metric tons of camphor oil ( including the natural
camphor extracted from the oil). With the production of
synthetic camphor on a very large scale, the natural product
has lost some of its former importance. Nevertheless,
prior to world war II, the natural product still supplied
half of the demand for camphor on the world markets. |
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| Although
it is true that the natural camphor could be replaced
completely by the synthetic product, if necessary, the
oil of camphor has managed to retain its important position
because it contains, aside from camphor, a number of other
components which are used in different industries, or
which can be converted into valuable aromatic isolates
and synthetic aromatics. In this respect oil of camphor,
like oil of citronella, is a real " gold mine."
It should be pointed out here that the oil of camphor
originally obtained by distillation of the wood of the
camphor tree will yield, on further treatment, something
less than 50 per cent of natural camphor (cryst.), And
slightly more than 50 per cent of (residual) camphor oil.
The latter is then processed for the isolation of various
fractions and aromatics. By exploiting such important
by-products, the Japanese, Formosan, and Chinese camphor
and camphor oil industries have survived competition on
the part of the synthetic camphor industry. |
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| Prior
to world war II, the island of Formosa, the world's most
important producer of camphor oil and camphor, formed
part of the Japanese empire, and Formosa's camphor industry
was completely controlled by, and intimately connected
with, the chemical industry of Japan proper. The original
oil obtained by distillation of the wood was separated
in the producing regions of Formosa into crude camphor
and residual crude camphor oil, which two main products
were then refined in modern, well-equipped factories located
in Formosa and Japan. The government of Japan contributed
a great deal to the development of camphor oil production
in Formosa's primitive interior. |
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1852 |
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British
companies in Formosa made lucrative profit by exporting
camphor. |
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1863 |
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The
government prohibit private trading of camphor,
this caused the disputes among the local and foreign
firms. The regulation was then lifted on 1869. |
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1885 |
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A
camphor monopoly law was put in effect. The camphor
production was collected by camphor monopoly bureau
and resell to the German merchants. |
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1890 |
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The
delegates of several foreign countries protested
to the Chinese government in Beijing for the violation
of treaty by the camphor monopoly law. Later, this
law was then lifted. |
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1895 |
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Japanese
government started ruling of Taiwan on May. A new
law was put in effect to allow only those who were
previously licensed by Chinese government to produce
camphor. |
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1896 |
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In
February, the Japanese tax law started to effect
on camphor and camphor oil. In March the duty rate
was formally publicized. |
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1897 |
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New
regulations were publicized but because the trading
of camphor was mostly controlled by foreign companies,
frequent disputes were brought up. |
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1899 |
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Unlawful
felling of camphor trees, triggered by attempts
of local producers to increase production, started
to spread. Regarding the tax rate too heavy, 10
yen to 60 kgs camphor and 30 yen to 60 kgs camphor
oil. These local producers tried either to evade
the tax or to smuggle, left foreign firms the chance
to monopolize the profit. Under pressure in circumstances
domestic and overseas, the Japanese government announced
the regulation of monopoly of camphor and camphor
oil. In August these regulations were implemented. |
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1900 |
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In July, the bureau of camphor Taiwan was established
in Taipei, and branch offices were also set in several
places. |
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1901 |
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In
June, the bureau became government owned and was
changed into Taiwan monopoly bureau of camphor. |
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1905 |
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Abolished
all the branch offices and all the businesses were
to be run directly by the head office of the bureau
in Taipei. |
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1911 |
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A
government owned factory (Nan-Mon factory ) was
built. |
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1969 |
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The
government declared camphor production open to privately
owned and TAIWAN TEKHO CAMPHOR CO., LTD.
Undertook its ( Nan- Mon factory ) whole installations
and running the camphor and its derivative products
business until now. |
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