The Cement Jungle

In the waters outside the harbor of Rangoon, loaded ships lay at anchor. Out at sea other Rangoon-bound vessels got orders to alter course. Along Strand Road, Rangoon's wharfside thoroughfare, government officials, merchants and shipping agents found themselves confronted everywhere by the cause of the distress. In warehouses, on docks, even in the port health station, thousands of bags of cement were piled high, crowding out all else and paralyzing the port. And more cement was on its way.

Burma was learning the hard way about barter deals with the Communists. Caught with a huge rice surplus and unable to sell enough of it elsewhere (the U.S. is unloading a surplus of its own). Burma sent trade delegates to Iron Curtain countries to barter. They were eager amateurs who knew little about the fine points of trade, could not even speak Russian, and had to settle for whatever exchange goods they could get. Iron Curtain countries had plenty of cement to offer; cement, the delegates figured, would surely come in handy for Burma's projected construction program. So, without consulting Rangoon, they ordered a whopping 124,000 tons of cement from Russia, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. In their enthusiasm they somehow forgot that 1) no major construction is going on in Burma now, 2) Burma produces 60% of her own cement, 3) there is not room for that much cement in Rangoon.

Some 50,000 tons have already arrived in the port, and ships are standing offshore with more, waiting for berths. Rangoon's ordinary shipping trade has all but halted, and demurrage charges are mounting at the rate of $4,200 a day. Soon harbor authorities will face an even worse problem. With the beginning of the monsoon season, the steady downpour of rain will wet much of the uncovered cement and convert it into solid mass.

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