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By last week, thanks to their business boom and to sale or charter of old vessels at scarcity prices, they were in black ink for fair. American Export (which increased its tonnage of freight carried from 522,482 in 1938 to 933,952 last year, its miles traveled from 1,042,590 to 1,392,391), boosted its net income for the nine months ended last September to $5,895,000 from $216,631 in the 1939 period. Other typical 1940 earnings reports: Moore-McCormack, $5,274,911 against $354,416 in 1939; American-Hawaiian, a $3,431,169 profit against $992,524 in 1939. Shipping shares have enjoyed a spectacular boom on the New York Stock Exchange, rising about 150% since war's outbreak—faster than any other group—while the Dow-Jones industrials average was declining from 129.4 to 115.72.
Yet despite all efforts by U.S. lines to keep freight moving over the oceans, there is too much work for the 2,247,633 tons of U.S. shipping (exclusive of tankers) now in ocean service. With Nazi sinkings averaging about 60% more than building of new ships by Britain and the U.S. together (TIME, April 28), ships grow more precious by the hour. In Australia and New Zealand are piled up tons of butter and cheese which England needs desperately. Attempts to move the big Australian wheat crop were abandoned several months ago for England can get its wheat by a shorter haul from Canada. Only a fraction of the 840,000 bales of wool which Britain arranged last October to send from Australia to the U.S. has arrived. Shipments of chilled and frozen Argentine beef to England (which needs it badly) dropped from 367,982 metric tons in 1939 to 280,242 last year, an estimated 131,000 tons at the outside this year. Unable to move 12,000,000 stems of Jamaican bananas bought at two shillings a bunch, Britain has presented them to the Jamaicans for disposal. Not even all the U.S. steel on which Britain has priorities can be carried.
Thus, with ship shortages all over the world, biggest unanswered question at week's end was what would happen to foreign trade, if any large part of the President's 2,000,000-ton pool is taken from the overseas fleet.