Evening star., 1940-05-18
BY OLIVER MCKEE.


OF the materials listed by the board
as strategic" for the United States.
Though Canada, Central and South
America are important sources of
supply for some of these vital ma
terials, the map strikingly reveals
our dependence on far distant
foreign sources for many of these
commodities. Africa, Asia, Aus
tralia, Europe and Russia all pro-
duce large quantities of materials
which are essential to national de-
tense and American industry.
OF the IA strategic materials listed
by the munitions board, four were
given special emphasis by War De-
partment officials who appeared
before the House Military Affairs
Committee last year.
Manganese finds it's principal use
in the manufacture of steel. Other
uses are in dry batteries, fertilizer
and in paint and varnish. High
grade manganese is essential in the
manufacture of steel. In the steel
industry it serves two purposes,
first as a deoxidizer and purifying
agent, and second as an alloying
element. For every ton of steel
produced, the industry uses approxi-
mately IA pounds of manganese in
the form of ferro-manganese.
Manganese Sources.
In normal years, more than 80
per cent Of the worlds manganese
supply comes from Soviet Russia,
British India, Africa and Brazil.
Russia usually accounts for one
half OF the world production. Cuba
produces little. The combined out
put of Brazil and Cuba, however,
would supply only part of the
needs of the United States.
In 1889, the United States i'm
ported $4,000 tons of manganese.
Most of this came from Russia,
British India, or Africa Science
has yet to discover a satisfactory
substitute for manganese in the
manufacture of steel. Our domestic
resources of matallurgical grade ore
are very small. Hence the import
ance of reserve stock of man
ganese to national defense,
The main use of chromium is in
the manufacture Of high-grade
alloy, and corrosion-lesisting steels.
Chromium is also used in the making
OF brick and cement, and in the
chemical industry for electro plating,
dyelng, and tanning Perhaps the
best known of the many ferro- -allovs
Tor which chromium is used is stain
less steel, which contains about I8
per cent chromium. With the shift
from straight carbon tc alloy steels,
chromium is assuming an increased
industrial Importance
ChroIhite Sources.
Five countries produce three
fourths of the world S supply of
chromite, the mineral from which
chromium is principally derived.
These flve in the order of their i'm
portance are Soviet Russia, Southern
Rhodesia, the Union of South Africa,
Turkey and Cuba. In the Western
Hemisphere, Cuba is the only stable
producer of chromite, and its output
is far less than American consump-
ton. Cuban ore, furthermore, is not
the type that can be satisfactorily
used in the manufacture of ferro-
chrome, the intermediary ferro-alloy
employed so extensively by the
American steel industry.
Since domestic production is negh-
gible, the United States is almost
entirely dependent on overseas Ship
ments for its supplies of chromite
In 1888 we imported 352 ,OS5 long tons
OF chromite. The same year domestic
production totaled only 812 tons.
The steel industry uses tungsten
to produce high speed tool steel. Be-
cause of the mass production needed
In modern war, tool steel for high
speed machining is of great i'm
portance. In addition to it's use for
high-speed tool steel, tungsten finds
place in the manufacture of lamp
t1laments, non-ferrous alloys, electro
cal contacts, and electrodes. The
chemical industry slso consumes
substantial quantities of tungsten.
An important military use is as
an alloy in armor- piercing bullet
cores,
Tungsten Sources.
Though the United States is an
important producer, during the last
IA years we have imported so per
cent more tungsten than we have
produced. China, Burma and
Bolivia are the most important
foreign sources of supply.
Because of its many industrial
uses, and the fact that domestic
production is negligible, tin presents
a serious strategic mineral prob
lem. AS container for food, tin
is essential to the food industry.
Large quantities of tin are also used
in the manufacture of automobiles
bearings, soldiers, bronzes and gun
metals. In war, or other emergency,
only small part of our require
ments could be met by recovering
tin from old scrap metals with a
tin content.
The United States normally con-
sumes $4,000 long tons of tin an
nually, or approximately As per
cent of the world output. During
the period 1901-1938 domestic pro-
duction has averaged less than OIL
per cent of national consumption.
The principal producers of tin
are the Malaga States, the Neither
lands East Indies, Bolivia, Siam
and China. During the last five
years the United States has OBJ
tanned 81 per cent of its foreign
supplies of tin from Asia, 18 per
cent from Europe and per cent
from other countries. Though
Bolivia produces substantial guam
titles of tin ore, the biilk of II
goes to Europe for refining, because
smelling facilities in the Western
Hemisphere are inadequate.