La Conferencia Arbitral del Ocume de 1935: Los coloniales frente al suministro nacional de madera

Abstract

In 1935, okoume was the main wood extracted from the Spanish colonies in the Gulf of Guinea. Its commercialization fed the tropical wood flows of the Hamburg market along with a conflict that had been incubating between forest concessionaires in the colony and Spanish plywood and board/lumberindustrialists, concerning limits to the supply of the national market. The conflict became so intense in the first months of 1935 that it forced the mainland colonial administration to convene the Okoume Arbitration Conference. The documentation from the conference is of considerable interest for understanding how a part of the colonial economy was inserted into the mainland economy. It uncovers the logics and strategies that unfolded around the use of a tropical wood as well as the features of the veneer and board sector: a little-known industry linked to colonial realities.