ALUMINIUM SUPPLIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 March 1942, Page 5

ALUMINIUM SUPPLIES

COMPARATIVE ESTIMATES

RUGBY, March 15 Manufacturers of the most modern weapons of war—especially aircraft and tanks—create a demand for the material they use. It is thus that the demand for aluminium and magnesium has shown striking expansion in recent years. In the current issue of the “Economist,” the productive capacity of these metals in various enemy and Allied countries is reVl The d world output of aluminium more than doubled between 1929 and 1939 largely due to rapid expansion in Germany. By 1941, the total Axis group of countries, including like Sweden and Spain, from which Germany could import, and. ulso an occupied countries, was producing 462,500 metric tons a year. The Allied countries were producing 530,000 metric tons. Until 1940, the former group had been a greater producer than the Allied countries. By 1941, the United States was producing at a vearlv rate of 300,000 tons, Germany at a rate of 290,000 tons, and Canada at a rate of 150,000 tons. These three were by far the largest producers. The United States has introduced a colossal programme of expansion. Seven new Government aluminium works set up last July with an annual capacity of some 300,000 tons should be in production this year The “Economist” estimates that United States production before die end of this year will be at an annual rate of 725,000 tons —well in excess of the combined Axis output. A 50 per cent, expansion in Canadian production is also expected this year. Russia, which in 1940 produced a 5,000 tons of aluminium, has at least temporarily lost the greater part of her capacity, especially the Dnieper dam plan, which was responsible for half the total output in 1940. . As regards magnesium, the Axis countries have a slightly greater production than the Allies. In 1941 they produced 30,700 metric tons against 26 500 by the Allied countries.. However as in the case of aluminium, the United States has initiated a vast production programme. By the end of this year it is hoped that United States production will have reached the enormous annual rate of 200,000 tons.