The international silk market came into existence in the mid nineteenth century. Chinese and Japanese raw silk exports to the West reached a large scale. On the demand side, France and the United States dominated the market. Chinese raw silk was exported from Shanghai and Canton. Shanghai's exports included reexports from Shantung, Szechwan, Hupei and so forth, as well as domestically reeled raw silk and steam filature raw silk produced in Chekiang and Kiangsu. Steam filature raw silk was almost produced in Shanghai.
Steam filature raw silk appeared first in the Customs returns in 1894. Shanghai steam filature raw silk was mainly exported to France before the World War I. French silk manufacturers required better quality raw silk to produce high quality silks. Shanghai steam filature raw silk was superior to Japanese product. Japanese raw silk was mainly consumed by American silk manufacturers because of its standard quality. The United States, overtook France and became the leading customer for raw silk in the early twentieth century. Shanghai steam filature raw silk export to the United States increased during the World War L After the war, American silk manufacturers attempted to accelrate import of Chinese raw silk, in order to break the dominated state of supply by Japan.