INTERNATIONAL
\
CANADIAN by S. J . COOK
New Resources and Diversity Spell Progress BLACK LIGHT—NEW BOON TO RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS Researchers and analysts now penetrate the in visible^—with a "second pair of e y e s " called BlakRay black light. Result: the distinctive lumines cence and radiation of matter u n d e r i t s ultra-violet rays now enable the presence o r absence of over 3,000 substances to be determined. Ideal for titration studies and mineral a n a l y s i s . Most widely used application, however, is in t h e rapidly expanding field of chromatography. R e search directors say no laboratory is really well equipped without b o t h types o f ultra-violet sources. Continuing research a n d s t u d y a r e constantly adding new dataj new uses a n d applications for ultra-violet—both short wave (2537 A U ) a n d long wave (3660 AU). Write for free booklet "215E—Ultra-Violet i n Scientific Research". Black L i g h t Corporation of America, Distributors for Ultra-Violet Products, Inc., 5114 Walnut Grove Avenue; San Gabriel, California. Distributors in principal cities.
FILTRATION PROBLEMS SOLVED FREE! R e s e a r c h d e p a r t m e n t of D . R. S p e r r y & C o . , l e a d e r in t h e field of filtration e n g i n e e r i n g , offers services t o m a n u f a c turers handicapped b y inade q u a t e or obsolete filtration facilities. U n b i a s e d analysis b a s e d on o v e r 6 0 y e a r s ex perience s e r v i n g all i n d u s t r i e s . Y o u r i n q u i r y will receive p r o m p t , personalized atten t i o n . Also a s k f o r free n e w Sperry catalog. W r i t e
D. R. SPERRY & CO. BATAVIA, ILLINOIS Filtration
Engineers for M o r e Than 60 years
Eastern Sales Representative: George S. Tarbox, 8 0 8 Nepperhan Avenue, Yonkers 3, Ν . Ύ. Yonkers 5-8400 Western Sales Representative: Β. Μ . Pilhashy, 8 3 3 Merchants Exchange Bldg.,San Francisco 4, California D O 2-0375
716
C&EN
FEB.
13.
1956
V ^ U R R E N T expansion in Canada's chemical industry is closely related to the development of new natural resources. Additional sulfuric acid capacity, being provided in Alberta, northern Ontario, a n d Quebec, will aid in the processing of uranium ores; new plants for the manufac ture of ammonia from natural gas reflect the spectacular rise in output from oil and gas wells, a n d point u p t h e growing demand for am monia in metallurgy, wood-pulping, and agriculture. • N e w Mineral Resources t o t h e Fore. A large part of Canada's in dustrial growth in applied chemis try to date has been based on the increasing utilization of this coun try's vast and varied mineral re sources. Director J. H . Shipley of Canadian Industries, Ltd., in a re cent study of Canada's growth po tential, points out t h a t the value of inorganic chemical production in Canada bears a ratio of 1:14 with the United States, whereas in the organic field t h e ratio is only 1:35. These ratios m a y be cited as evidence that Canada's inorganic chemical industry, based essen tially on minerals and on the use of hydroelectric power, has m a d e better progress t h a n the organic chemical plants. Shipley further notes that the "ratio oir value of Canadian to U . S. chemica] production is 1:24 com pared with a gross national product ratio of 1:15" and suggests t h a t on this basis, Canada's chemical indus try lags behind U. S. rate. Manufacture of fine chemicals, dyes, and some pharmaceuticals can only b e carried on to economic ad vantage in large-scale plants of a size that is not generally practical in Canada at the present time. But while in 1950 and 1951 rate of chemical production rose more rapidly in the United States than in Canada, substantial gains here last year did m u c h to close the gap. Perhaps t h e greatest potential factor in the rise of new chemical products lies in diversification, which is being studied extensively. No longer is the industry re
stricting itself to making primary chemicals; the growing fields of plastics, synthetic fibers, artificial rubber, and alkyd resin paints have opened u p new market outlets that d e m a n d technical service as well as new sales techniques. These problems are being attacked in Canada on a large and courageous scale; in some instances produc tion capacity in excess of current needs has been installed b u t this can only b e regarded as an expres sion of confidence, on t h e p a r t of management, that Canada's future economy is assured. • Firms Enter Chemical Industry via By-products. An interesting development, referred to recently by president H . Greville Smith of Canadian Industries, has been the tendency for firms in industries other than chemicals t o undertake the production of chemical mate rials used in or derived from their own products. An oil exploration company in Alberta will produce sulfur from natural gas; a p u l p and paper company in British Columbia plans to produce chemicals from wood; one of the principal rubber companies will shortly produce vinyl chloride for plastics; sulfuric acid will be made b y one of Canada's largest producers of nonferrous metals. Smith states that there is yet no evidence that industrial activity will slacken in 1956. Of course, however, geographical distribution of industrial production frequently does not fit in closely w i t h areas of consumption and in a country of Canada's size, transportation is a n important cost factor. Limitation of domestic market volume de mands that export markets b e de veloped. Tariffs, notoriously, ham per t h e expansion of Canadian trade abroad, a n d yet, conversely, they afford only a minimum of protec tion t o the domestic producer using imported r a w materials. It has been computed b y C. R. Graham, director of market re search for J. T. Donald and Co., that 1 5 % of our chemical output is exported and that another 2 0 % goes into the manufacture of Ca nadian goods sold on t h e export market. H e concludes from these data that our industry has more interest i n free international trade than in high protection.
