POTOMAC POSTSCRIPTS W P B Activities Acetic Anhydride. Because demand for acetic anhydride exceeds current produc tion, it has been placed under a system of allocations, the Director General for Operations has announced. General Pref erence Order M-243, effective October 30, prohibits delivery or use of the chemi cal except as directed by WPB. The standard chemical allocations forms, PD600 and PD-601, will be used by persons seeking authorization to make and accept deliveries.
and delivery of ethyl alcohol. When the order originally was drawn, the A-l-j rating was intended to make delivery possible under exceptional circumstances only, but the change in priority rating levels served to liberalize deliveries beyond the extent contemplated. The provision allowing for delivery of ethyl alcohol on A-l-j ratings has been stricken from the order by the new amendment, issued by the Director General for Operations, since the rating of A-l-j is no longer high enough to obtain substantial deliveries, and this amendment simply brings the order into accord with current practice.
Arsenic. Control over the use of arsenic (arsenious acid) has been tightened by the War Production Board in a revision of General Preference Order M-152 which prohibits the use of arsenic except as authorized by the Director General for Operations and requires all those holding 650 pounds or more to report their inven tories to WPB. The original order made deliveries of arsenic subject to WPB ap proval but did not control end use. The revised order, in addition to controlling end use on future allocations, will control the use of existing inventories. Deliveries and use of 650 pounds or less in any calen dar quarter for the manufacture of medici nal chemicals or preparations, or in re search, testing, analytical, or educational laboratories are exempted from the re strictions of the order.
Fats and Oils. Corn oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, and sunflower seed oil have been added to the list of fats, oils, and oil-bearing materials which the Com modity Credit Corporation will consider for purchase under provisions of WPB General Imports Order M-63. This an nouncement, made jointly by the Board of Economic Warfare, the Commodity Credit Corporation, and the War Production Board, supplements the list announced September 18, 1942. The revised list includes babassu oil, babassu kernels, cashew nut shell oil, castor oil, castor seed, coconut oil, copra, corn oil, cotton seed oil, muru mum oil, neat's-foot oil, ouricury oil, oiticica oil, palm kernels, palm kernel oil, palm oil, peanut oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed oil, and tucum oil.
Chemical Cotton Pulp. Military ex emption from the restrictions on deliveries of chemical cotton pulp has been elimi nated by amendment of Conservation Order M-157. The Army and Navy must now apply for specific authorization to ac cept deliveries of cotton chemical pulp in order that their requirements will be made known to the administrators of the order. The order also was revised so that application for authorization may be made on Forms PD-600 and PD-601, standard chemical forms now bhfog used. Forms for the December allocation had to befiledon or before November υ. Under the order, issued July 1, 1942, no producer may de liver ai-d no buyer may accept any chemi cal cotton pulp without specific authoriza tion by the Director General for Opera tions. The amended order still provides exception on deliveries by a producer of 2,000 pounds or less of chemical cotton pulp in any one month in lots of not more than 500 pounds to a^y one consumer in any month.
Tinplate. Use of tinplate in packing pyrethrum and rotenone base insecticides is prohibited by Amendment 4 to the Tin Conservation Order M-81. Packers of these products, which are the more ex pensive type of insecticide, can substitute blackplate or glass for the previously used tinplate containers. A provision for dis position of used cans to detinning plants is deleted from the order to bring it into conformity with M-72-a, which covers disposition of used tin cans.
Ethyl Alcohol. Amendment 1 to Gen eral Preference Order M-30 states that holders of A-l-j ratings no longer are excepted from the restrictions on the use
Toiletries and Cosmetics. Because cosmetic output is controllable through allocation orders covering chemicals used, the Director General for Operations has revoked Order L-171, which set up a per centage production control over toiletries and cosmetics. Since the revocation re moves all restriction on the manufacture of cosmetics, the effect will not be felt by the consuming public because limitations on materials entering into cosmetic manu facture will result in approximately the same output as at present. At the same time certain specific difficulties and in equalities will be removed and the indus try will have more leeway in the use of available materials. It was emphasized
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by the Chemicals Branch, however, that fairly rigid restrictions could be expected on cosmetics packaging and luxury toilet ries that use critical materials, particu larly cosmetics containing alcohol, glyc erol, imported oils, waxes, and higher grades of talc.
Price Regulations Containers. In order to encourage the substitution of cheaper containers to re place steel and other critical materials no longer available for packaging numerous chemicals, the Office of Price Adminis tration has informed the chemical indus try that upward adjustment of ceiling prices, to permit producers to pass on to purchasers increases in container costs, will not be authorized except in special and unusual cases. ΟΡΑ will adjust the maximum prices of individual chemical manufacturers suffering substantial hardship owing to increases in packaging costs if the concern conclusively shows that it is unable to effect economies in container costs by use of cheaper materials. The WPB has pro hibited by Limitation Order No. L-197 the use of steel drums in the packaging of approximately 90 important chemicals, but many manufacturers will be able to pack certain of their products in cheaper containers made of fiber or paper, thus reducing their container costs under levels of March 1942, the base pricing period of the General Maximum Price Regulation. Fertilizers. Elimination of the uneven price structure prevailing for the Florida and Tennessee phosphate rock industry, as well as provision for more adequate production of the higher grades of this important fertilizer material, are provided in Maximum Price Regulation 240, ef fective October 19, 1942, issued by the Office of Price Administration. The measure, which applies only to phosphate rock produced in Florida and Tennessee establishes specific dollars and cents maxi mum prices about 20 cents per ton under current levels for the lower grades and at approximately the same level as those now prevailing for the higher grades. The new measure establishes maximum prices for various grades in a more con sistent relationship than was possible under the General Maximum Price Regu lation, thus removing the main factor hindering greater output of the higher grades. Manganese Ores. A maximum price regulation for manganese ores, designed to stabilize the major cost element for manganese alloys, has been announced by ΟΡΑ in Maximum Price Regulation 248, effective November 9. The new regula tion provides maximum prices for all doCONTXKUBD ON PAGE 1 3 7 9
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mestic sales of manganese ore of every kind, other than domestic battery or chemical ores, to any private buyer.
WPB Chemicals Branch Announces Allocations /"OCTOBER allocations for other than ^*^ direct military uses have been released by the Chemicals Branch, War Production Board. The Branch explained that allocations are made on the basis of specific end use where possible rather than on priority ratings. Although the program will change from month to month, the pattern will serve as a guide t o areas in which chemicals are most likely t o be available. The allocation requests in most instances do not indicate actual requirements for a given material, as industry has reduced its requests in fields where a known shortage exists. The purpose of the release is to provide industry with a pattern for which October requests were granted in full, granted in part, or denied. Copies may be obtained direct from the WPB Office of War In formation, Washington, D . C.
WPB Wants Report of Critical Chemicals ACTING on evidence of slow-downs in " ^ the production of urgently needed munitions and other war materials on account of the scarcity of critical chemicals, H. M. Brundage, regional deputy director, WPB, in charge of priorities and ma terials, has asked all chemical manu facturers, suppliers, and users in the New York-Northern New Jersey area to report their holdings of idle, excess, or frozen stocks of critical chemicals to WPB re gional headquarters. Aid will be given to war plants in obtaining the chemicals they need through regional representatives of WPB's Materials Redistribution Branch, and holders of idle, excess, or frozen stocks of critical chemicals will be aided in disposing of such stocks. Full details are requested as to speci fications, quantities, and location of some 150 chemicals listed in Schedule A to Priorities Regulation 13, which authorizes the sale of idle, excess, or frozen stocks to specified purchasers. Copies of Priorities Regulation 13 with the complete list of critical chemicals are obtainable at all WPB offices in this area. Mr. Brundage explained that although frozen stocks of many materials are mov ing rapidly into war production under the regulation, the problem in the case of
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chemicals is complicated, owing to the* many specialized uses of chemicals. He pointed out that this program was in tended to augment, not sii|>ersc
