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BVIB or OPERATIONS

GENERAL
In 1971, for the first time in the Company's history, total sales passed the
$100,000,000 mark. Sales revenue for the year showed a gain of nearly 6% over
1970 in spite of sluggish economic conditions in the U.S.A. and most overseas
market areas.
Consolidated net income, after Federal and state income taxes, also rose for the
second consecutive year, from $1 .58 per common share to $1 .66, an increase of 5% .
INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS
In the U .S.A., sales of borate products responded to the gradual upturn in eco-
nomic activity during the year. The housing boom led to strong demand from
manufacturers of insulation fiber glass, but for the year as a whole sales to most
of the other important borate-consuming industries showed only modest growth
over the previous year.
In export markets, too, slow economic activity limited the growth of borate
demand, but the dominating factor in the second half of the year was the West
Coast Longshoremen's strike, which closed all ports in the western United States
from July 1, 1971 until suspended by a Taft-Hartley injunction on October 7,
1971. During the strike it proved possible to supply European markets in bulk
through Gulf Coast ports, although this resulted in very substantial extra costs not
all of which could be recovered from customers. For markets outside Europe,
notably Japan, sales came to a _ virtual standstill, and even after the end of the
strike a shortage of vessels hampered efforts to rebuild customer inventories. In
spite of these problems, however, total export sales for the year were 8% over 1970.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
In a generally successful year, sales registered a 9% growth over 1970, and
1971 was the third consecutive year in which both sales and profit contribution
increased.
In retail products, BORATEEM® sales increased after a 2-year decline, and
20 MULE TEAM® Borax achieved record volume.
20 MULE TEAM® Laundry Detergent, introduced mid-year, failed to meet
sales expectations as a result of criticism by the Surgeon General of non-phosphate
detergents as a whole. However, the product is improving its position in those
markets where consumer demand for a non-phosphate detergent continues.
Industrial maintenance products, in spite of a decline in the total market,
showed a gratifying increase over the previous year.

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