BROMINE

    (Data in thousand metric tons of bromine content, unless noted)

Domestic Production and Use:  The quantity of bromine sold or used in the United
States from companies operating in Arkansas and Michigan accounted for 100% of
elemental bromine production valued at an estimated $186 million.  Arkansas continued
to be the Nation's leading bromine producer, and bromine was the leading mineral
commodity in terms of value produced in the State.

Estimated bromine use was fire retardants, 27%; agriculture, 15%; petroleum
additives, 15%; well drilling fluids, 10%; sanitary preparations, 5%; and other uses,
28%.  Other uses included intermediate chemicals used in the manufacture of other
products, and bromide solutions used alone or in combinations with other chemicals.

Salient Statistics--United States:       1991     1992     1993     1994     1995e/
Production1/                              170      171      177      195      211
Imports for consumption, elemental
 bromine and compounds2/                   24       15       19       20       20
Exports, elemental bromine and compounds   17       22       19       20       25
Consumption, apparent3/                   169      157      267      197      206
Price, cents per kilogram, bulk, 
 purified bromine                        73.2     73.3     69.5     70.0     88.0
Stocks, producer, yearend, 
 elemental brominee/                       --       --       --       --       --
Employment, plant                       1,200    1,600    1,600    1,600    1,700
Net import reliance4/ as a percent of
 apparent consumption                      --       --       --       --        E

Recycling:  Approximately 35% of U.S. bromine production was converted to byproduct
sodium bromide solutions, which were recycled to obtain elemental bromine.  This
recycled bromine is not included in the virgin bromine production reported by the
companies.

Import Sources (1991-94):  Israel, 76%; Netherlands, 20%; and France, 4%.

Tariff: Item                 Number     Most favored nation (MFN)          Non-MFN5/
                                                12/31/95               12/31/95
Bromine                     2801.30.2000        7% ad val.            37% ad val.
Ammonium, calcium, or 
 zinc bromide               2827.59.2500            Free              25% ad val.
Decabromodiphenyl and       2909.30.0700        18.6% ad val.         15.4/kg + 
 octabromodiphenyl oxide                                              70.5% ad val.
Ethylene dibromide          2903.30.0500        5.4% ad val.          46.3% ad val.
Hydrobromic acid            2811.19.3000        3.4% ad val.          25% ad val.
Potassium bromate           2829.90.0500        2.5% ad val.          25% ad val.
Potassium or sodium bromide 2827.51.0000            Free                22/kg.
Methyl bromide              2903.30.1520            Free               25% ad val.
Sodium bromate              2829.90.2500        3.0% ad val.          25% ad val.
Tetrabromobisphenol A       2908.10.2500        1.4/kg +              15.4/kg +
                                                18% ad val.            62% ad val.

Depletion Allowance:  5% on brine wells (Domestic and Foreign).

Government Stockpile:  None.

Events, Trends, and Issues:  Two bromine companies announced plans to expand domestic
capacity.  One of the companies announced that their bromine production capacity
would be increased 30% at its plant in Magnolia, AR.  A third company planned to
build a bromine plant with capacity between 9 and 14 million kilograms at Manistee,
MI.  The plant would produce elemental bromine and brominated salts from brines used
to produce magnesium.  The plant was expected to be completed in late 1996.

Prepared by Phyllis A. Lyday, (703) 648-7713.

                                BROMINE

The Environmental Protection Agency planned to work on an essential-use exemption for
methyl bromide in the event effective alternatives are not found by 2001.  Methyl
bromide was listed as a Class I ozone depleting substance in the 1990 Clean Air Act
and is scheduled to be phased out in 2001.  

Producers of brominated flame retardants have voluntarily agreed to phase out
production of some grades of flame retardants considered capable of emitting toxic
byproducts when incinerated.  The agreement was reached by a joint policy board on
chemical safety at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).  

Israel, the second largest producer of bromine in the world, canceled the public
offering of a 22% share in the state-owned chemical company.  The delay in
privatization was as a result of the offering not meeting the Government's minimum
price.  

Israel and Jordan announced a memorandum of understanding to construct a $50 million
bromine plant on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.  The 50-50 joint venture would
be managed by the Jordanians, but technical and marketing assistance would be
provided by Dead Sea Bromine.  The facility would have a capacity of 11 million
kilograms per year of bromine.  Dead Sea signed an agreement with a domestic producer
to provide bromine during a 20-year period.

World Mine Production, Reserves, and Reserve Base:
                                Mine production      Reserves6/ Reserve base6/
                                 1994      1995e/
United States1/                 195.0     211.0        11,000         11,000
Azerbaijan                        3.0       3.0           300            300
China                            19.0      19.0            NA             NA
France                            2.5       2.5         1,600          1,600
Germany                            .8        .8            36             36
India                             1.4       1.4          (7/)           (7/)
Israel                          135.0     135.0          (8/)           (8/)
Italy                              .3        .3          (7/)           (7/)
Japan                            15.0      15.0          (9/)           (9/)
Spain                              .2        .2         1,400          1,400
Turkmenistan                      8.0       8.0           700            700
Ukraine                           4.0       4.0           400            400
United Kingdom                   28.0      28.0          (7/)           (7/)
 World total (rounded)          410.0     430.0            NA             NA
 
World Resources:  Resources of bromine are virtually unlimited.  The Dead Sea in the
Middle East is estimated to contain 1 billion tons of bromine.  Seawater contains
about 65 parts per million of bromine or an estimated 100 trillion tons.  The bromine
content of underground water in Poland has been estimated at 36 million tons.

Substitutes:  Chlorine and iodine may be substituted for bromine in a few chemical
reactions and for sanitation purposes.  Aniline and some of its derivatives,
methanol, ethanol, and gasoline-grade tertiary butyl alcohol, are effective nonlead
substitutes for ethylene dibromide and lead in gasoline in some cars.  There are no
comparable substitutes for bromine in various oil and gas well completion and packer
applications.   Alumina, magnesium hydroxide, organic chlorine compounds, and
phosphorus compounds can be substituted for bromine as fire retardants in some uses.

e/Estimated.  E Net exporter.  NA Not available. 
1/Sold or used by U.S. producers.
2/Imports calculated from items shown in tariff section.
3/Includes recycled product beginning in 1993.
4/Defined as imports - exports + adjustments for Government and industry stock
changes.
5/See Appendix B.
6/See Appendix C for definitions.
7/From waste bitterns associated with solar salt.
8/From the Dead Sea.
9/From seawater.

                              Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 1996