Stevenson Act

The Stevenson Plan, also known as the Stevenson Restriction Scheme, was an effort by the British government to stabilize low rubber prices resulting from a glut of rubber following World War I.

In the early 1900s, increased reliance on the automobile and the use of rubber in common products such as boots were driving demand for rubber. At that time rubber was made from naturally occurring latex extracted from certain plants. The most important of the plants for latex production is the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis whose cultivation is restricted to tropical climates. At this time about 75% of rubber was controlled by British corporations, spurring efforts in Russia, Germany and the United States to reduce dependence on British rubber. All three countries were trying to develop methods of manufacturing synthetic rubber, and the United States Rubber Company began producing natural rubber in Sumatra in 1910. However, synthetic rubber was not yet practical, and natural rubber sources develop rather slowly (rubber trees must grow for six or seven years before they are productive).

Between 1914 and 1922, natural rubber prices fluctuated between $0.115 and $1.02 per pound for several reasons. One reason is a blight that affected rubber trees in Brazil that reduced productivity and caused British and Dutch rubber producers to start new plantations in Malaya and in the Dutch East Indies.

A second reason was that after the 1917 October Revolution, Russia renewed its effort to make synthetic rubber as part of two projects: 1) Project Bogatyr in which rubber is made from ethyl alcohol, and 2) Project Treugolnik in which the feedstock is petroleum. These projects succeeded in reducing Russian demand for British rubber.

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