WORLD-WIDE CHEMISTRY A number of far-reaching decisions, bound to seriously affect chemical industries, have been taken by British economic and commercial authorities during the first month of the war. Control offices have been instituted by the Ministry of Supply for many essential raw materials, including nonferrous metals, molasses and industrial alcohol, marine oils, vegetable oils and fats, oilseeds, sulfuric acid, ammonium sulfate, and other fertilizers. The object of the control offices is to safeguard supplies of essential commodities. Government interference will not go beyond the necessary extent. The control office for industrial alcohol and molasses immediately ordered all private firms to make returns of their stocks of molasses, industrial alcohol, acetone, acetic acid, butyl alcohol, amyl, butyl, and ethyl acetates, and fusel oil. Authorities seem to wish to use existing rivate fertilizer organizations. The M inistry of Supply officially has asked the National Sulphuric Acid Association, the British Sulphate of Ammonia Federation, and the Fertilizer Manufacturers' Association to continue functioning and to exercise voluntary control over their industries for as long a time as possible without legal authority. Only problems a voluntary control cannot solve will be placed under government control. In the case of feedstuffs, it was announced that individual licenses will not be issued at present. Purchases of feedstuffs will be made by the Director of FeedingStuffs Supply whose office has already been established. The control system is as flexible as possible. The authorities wish to avoid unnecessary interference, but it is clear that in some cases control has to be rather complete, and probably will become more firm as the war goes on.
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Ban on Imports Does Not Restrict All Trade The foreign chemical manufacturer doing business with Great Britain need not fear being inconvenienced by restrictions imposed on chemical trade. The government is encouraging exports, while imports are to be limited to products and quantities in which home supplies are insufficient. The Board of Trade has issued a list of chemicals which must not be imported except under license, including citric, formic, oxalic, and tartaric acids, bleaching materials other than calcium chloride, trichloroacetaldehyde, collodion, disinfectants, insecticides, weed-killers, fungicides, sheep and cattle dressings except tobacco offal, citrate of lime, nicotine and nicotine sulfate, sodium chloride, sodium carbonate including soda crystals, soda ash, sodium bicarbonate, caustic soda, sodium cyanide, sodium phosphate, sodium sulfate, and sodium silicate. No licenses will be issued for the time being for organic acids, sodium compounds,
bleaching materials, trichloroacetaldehyde, collodion, or citrate of lime. Many chemical products British importers buy from American exporters either are not included in the list or will be admitted under license. United States chemical shipments to Great Britain need not be interrupted except in the class of luxury articles (soaps, toilet preparations, etc.) which are to be imported in reduced quantities. The import ban (except under license) also applies to all synthetic organic dyestuffs, whether soluble or insoluble, and preparations from such dyestuffs unless they are not used for dyeing, as well as intermediates for use in the dyestuffs industry, paints, enamels, lacquers and varnishes, distempers, pigments, and extenders. No licenses will be required for natural dyes, silica, cadmium lithopone, luminous paints, and radioactive powders used in the manufacture of luminous paints, graphite, or carbon black from natural gas or acetylene. This list also includes a number of articles, largely provided by American manufacturers, which will be admitted to Great Britain. Export Licenses t o Be Given Freely Exports of chemical products are generally subject to license, but this license will be granted wherever possible. Authorities have already announced caustic soda and coal-tar pitch may be exported without a license. Since both are available in quantities greatly exceeding the country's requirements, limitation of exports would be pointless. The ministry may be expected soon to extend the list of chemicals which may be exported without previous license, and thus reduce the unproductive work of supervision to a minimum. A number of German chemical firms' foreign subsidiaries have been put on a list of "enemy aliens" with which British firms must not deal.
War Effects Noted in Chemical Markets Certain additional war costs, such as the War Risk Insurance, have been reflected in occasional advances in prices of chemical products. Although advances have been reported for a number of articles, at the beginning of October a full and correct list of quotations was not available. Many firms prefer to hold back until the control has issued official prices, which are expected to correspond closely to those in the free market immediately before the outbreak of war. As certain chemical raw materials, such as nonferrous metals, are available now at fixed prices, the quotations of chemical products made from them are expected to remain stable. On the other hand, prices for products which are imported from foreign countries and are now burdened with a less favorable rate of exchange and a higher insurance charge will doubtless rise. In markets of coal-tar products, demand has been more pronounced recently. Some of these products will be required in larger quantities, but, as Great Britain is an exporter of most of them, a shortage need not be feared. Calls and deliveries of chemical products on the basis of long-term contracts generally have increased. Specification for Cod Oil for Sulfonation Is Issued In the series of British Standard Specifications for marine animal and fish oils, a specification has just been published for cod oil for sulfonation purposes. Copies of the new standard (B.S. 868), as well as of all other specifications mentioned earlier in these reports, can be obtained from the British Standards Institution, 28 Victoria St., London, S. W. 1. The price of the latest standard specification is 2s. 2d. post free. G.
ABRAHAMSON
8 HOWITT CLOSE
HOWITT ROAD
LONDON, N. W.
October 2, 1039
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Hydraulic installations in the Dominion total 8,190,772 horsepower, an average of 731 horsepower per 1000 population, according to the Department of Mines and Resources, Ottawa. The present turbine installation represents a development of only 18.75 per cent of the country's recorded waterpower resources, which will permit a turbine installation of about 43,700,000 horsepower. New Map Lists Pulp, Paper Plants Canada has 99 pulp and paper mills, according to a new map of the pulp and paper industries of Canada and Newfoundland, prepared by the Dominion Forest Service, Department of Mines and Resources, Ottawa. This map not only shows locations of various mills and addresses of their head offices, but also lists various products manufactured at each plant. ry«aAL leads the world in the produc-
EDITOR'S NOTE. Those interested in further details should address the correspondent whose name and address appear for each country, and enclose sufficient international coupons t o prepay United States stamps should not be
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VOL. 17, NO. 21
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
tion of newsprint paper, and exports more newsprint than all other countries combined. The phenomenal development of the pulp and paper industry in Canada during the present century has been possible because of a fortunate combination of readily accessible wood resources of superior quality for manufacturing paper and rayon, an abundance of well-distributed water power, and dependable supplies of fresh water. Scientific Activity Being Indexed for Military Use Cooperation between industry and science, carefully fostered and developed in Canada during peace, has been strengthened to cope with new needs arising from Canada's entry into the present conflict. Classified and tabulated lists of qualifications and appointments of members from principal technical societies have been presented to military authorities. Supplementary information has been secured through both a conference of heads of research organizations sponsored by the National Research Council, and a comrehensive survey of available research facilities made by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. University students in the sciences are being encouraged to continue their academic studies to graduation. Scientific workers and skilled tradesmen will not be enlisted for service except when their special training can be used in a military capacity. Thousands of voluntary offers of personal and laboratory services for use in any capacity that may be required have been indexed and tabulated by a special government bureau.
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Magnesium Recovery Studied and Reviewed Applications to which magnesium has been put in European countries have stimulated experimental work on Canadian raw materials. A review of this work, presented by L. M. Pidgeon of the National Research Laboratories, was published recently.1 In addition to the usual electrolytic method, the study included investigations of direct reduction methods using carbon, silicon, and calcium carbide as well as possibilities of producing a compound with a lower heat of formation from which the metal could be more readily recovered. The market for magnesium in Canada is limited. As its technology is closely related to aluminum, of which Canadian output is large, the probability of magnesium finding an extensive market in the Dominion is slight. Nevertheless, investigation has paved the way to production. New Method for Making Paint Pigment Suggested By application of colloid chemistry and development of a new technique, a suspension of dehydrated pigment in petroleum solvents and a dehydrated pigment powder have been produced from aqueous pigment pastes at the Ontario Research Foundation. The products are characterized by exceptional fineness, low hygroscopicity, and low wettability by water, according to a description of the work published recently.* The processes by which these pigments are produced supposedly avoid many present commercial difficulties but, as they involve 1 Pidgeon. L. M., Can. Chêm. Process Ind., 23, 95-400 (1030). •Schiechierholts,O. J.. Ibid.. 2 3 , 401-4 (1939).
operations new to the paint and color industry, successful development will depend on results of semicommercial operations. The method avoids dehydration in the mass which yields an extremely hard dry cake, redispersible in oil with difficulty. Codiseoverer of Insulin Reports New Experiment Charles H. Best, codiscoverer of insulin, has reported from the University of Toronto the purification of heparin, another substance from animal tissue. Heparin has been found to prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots, and is being used clinically by physicians as a preventive against coronary thrombosis. Iceland Honors Dr. Thorvaldson The Government of Iceland has conferred the Order of the Falcon on T. Thorvaldson, professor of chemistry at the University of Saskatchewan, in recognition of his achievement in chemistry. Dr. Thorvaldson's work on cements, particularly in the development of products resistant to the disintegrating effects of the alkali-bearing soils of western Canada, is widely known and recognized as of high commercial value. S. J. COOK 140 BROADWAY OTTAWA
Ave.
October 24. 1939
The Companhia NitroQuimica Brasileira is studying a project for the manufacture of nitrogen from air. The company has also prop o s e d arrangements with the government to buy the entire superphosphate output of the Ipanema plant up to 13 tons a day without interruption. To increase the capacity of the plant to 200 tons of superphosphate a month would require 2310 contos de réis (about $115,500) in thefirstyear, it is estimated. Analysis of the apatite deposits at Ipanema gave the following: 20.2 to 22.2 per cent total P a 0 6 ; 14.5 to 16.1 per cent soluble in water; 3.0 to 3.3 per cent soluble in citrate; and 4.8 to 5.6 per cent free. A survey of the district indicates the existence of 835,723 metric tons of mineral in sight. Castor Seed Exports Increase 20 Per Cent Exports of castor seeds during the current year have increased about 20 per cent over the first six months of 193». The United States, France, Belgium, and Great Britain were the main buyers of Brazilian castor seeds. In connection with experiments being carried out in the State of Rio, 10 tons of rich and productive oil-yielding seeds already have been distributed. Brazil Is Ranked as Sixth Largest Exporter to Reich Brazil figured in sixth place as a supplier to Germany in 1938, according to German returns. Shipments from this country were valued at 214.395 reichsmarks. From the United States, Germany imported 404,579 reschsmarks of goods; from Great Britain, 282,716. Principal articles and values in 1000 reichsmarks of products exported from
Brazil to the Reich were: cotton, 68,171; coffee, 58,325; timber, 35,350; tobacco, 11,743; rubber and gutta-percha, 6740: fruit, 5048; minerals, 2232; hides and skins, 1709; maize, 880: meat, 845; oleaginous seeds, 382; and fibers, 78. Ramie Production on Large Scale Proposed The Companhia Nipo-Brasileira de Ramie has proposed to the federal government the cultivation and processing of ramie on a large scale. The scheme re* quests exemption of custom house duties on seeds and seedlings as well as on all machinery imported from Japan; permission for entry into the country of technicians, engineers, and agricultural laborers who are specialists in the industry; and a grant of land for the cultivation of ramie and erection of factories. The Ministries of Agriculture and Finance are considering the plan. The Companhia Nipo-Brasileira de Ramie is connected with the Tokyo Ramie Spinning Co., Ltd., which claims to be the largest concern in the world in the cultivation and processing of ramie. Industrial Enterprises Are Developed by German Firm A local German firm has registered at the Ministry of Marine a list of 26 products for which it has the exclusive sale. Twenty of these products, German trade-marked brands made under license in Brazil, include antirust compositions, red lead, waterproofing compositions! anticorrosive and aluminum paints, insecticidal preparations, leather preservatives· and compositions for protecting woodwork against dry rot, white ante, etc. The other six roducte are similar, but are manufactured >cally.
K
C. £ . NABUCO DB ARAUJO, JR.
CAIXA POSTAI. 970 Rio DB JANBIBO
October 2. 1039
Chemical Raw Material Imports ITH the exception of potash, imports W of most chemicals and related products were well maintained in September
with many raw material items, including cod liver oil and other medicinal substances, and essential oils, recording sharp increases, according to the Chemical Division, Department of Commerce. Because of the precipitous decline in receipts of potash, however, the total value of all chemicals and related products imported in September decreased in value to $11,338,000 from $13,000,000 recorded in the corresponding month of 1938. All types of medicinal product imports recorded gains in September with total value reaching $2,050,000. Other imports which increased in September included oiticica oil, perilla oil, casein, tankage, gums, resins, and balsams, essential oils, vegetable dyeing and tanning materials, and matches. Declines in other chemical imports, due, it is believed, mainly to Germany's inability to participate, occurred with coal-tar products, including ayes, receipts of which declined in value from $1,623,000 in September, 1938, to $1,494,000; and industrial chemicals, from $1,732,300 to $1,254,· 000. Other chemical and related products items showing losses included flaxseed, tung oiL carnauba wax, glue stock, beeswax, inoustrial explosives, and soaps and toiletries.
