Owing to the extensive working of the great nitrate of soda deposits,
mining takes first place among Chilean industries. Although producing
nearly a million tons annually, coal mining has not developed
sufficiently to supply the needs of the country, the importations
amounting to about one and a half million tons a year. Copper is the
most important of the metals mined, although gold and silver are mined
in considerable quantities.
In recent years more attention has been paid to manufacturing. In 1909
there were 5,000 manufacturing establishments, large and small, with a
capital of $45,000,000, and an aggregate output valued at $64,000,000.
There are 960 establishments in the shoe and leather industry, 870 in
food supplies, 670 in metal industries, 555 in the manufacture of
garments, 440 wood working industries, 210 in paper and printing and
200 in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages.
The value of imports into Chile in 1909 was approximately $95,000,000
and the export values for the same year $110,000,000. Of the total
imports Great Britain supplied 32 per cent., Germany 22 per cent.,
and the United States 10 per cent. Of the total exports, amounting to
$110,000,000, Great Britain purchased 45 per cent., Germany 24 per
cent., and the United States 20 per cent. Europe and the United States
bought over 90 per cent. of the exports, and furnished 80 per cent. of
the imports.
Nitrate of soda constitutes about 75 per cent. of the total exports
from Chile, and copper, 5 per cent. The four articles of import showing
the largest values are, steel and manufactures of, coal, cotton goods
and industrial machinery. Eighty-five per cent. of the imports consist
of manufactured articles.