shortages eased bg expanding supplies CHARLES WHITE MERRILL, Assistant Chief, Minerals Division, Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C.
o n e of the first and serious reactions experienced by industly, as a result of the invssion of South Korea, was the development of shortages in almost all of its raw materials. The mineral raw materials upon which the chemical industries rely proved no exception. In response to the situation and to the accompanying rapidly rising prim, the Congreas paased and the President signed in September 1950 the Defense Production Act of 1950, which among other t h i i provided for the expansion of production capacity and mpplymd for the allocation of materials. An early determination of those administering the act to curtail civilian consumption as little as practicable while accelerating production for defense--guns and butter-created an enormous potential demand for raw materials. Although
it proved impossible to expand the armament industries as rapidly as some had anticipated, nevertheless the prospective requirements for programmed defense production caused manufacturen to accumulate raw materials. In addition, speculators, particularly abroad, entered the markets in the anticipation of rising prim. A8 a result, shortages of =me minerals became acute. On the other hand, production expansion programs began to take form. In the field of mineral raw materials other than fuels the Defense Minerals Administration, Department of the Interior, and the Materials Development Division, Economic Cooperation Administration, played major parts. As the result of reorganization in the latter half of 1951,most of the activities of these two agencies were brought together under
TOTAL VALUE, U o So MINERAL PRODUCTION (millions of dollnrs)
7
1223
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY I
the Defense Materials Procurement Agency. The mineral fuela programs under the D e f w production Act were developed by the Petroleum AdminiStration for Defense and the Defenae Solid Fuels Adminiatration, both in the Department of the Interior. All of the mineral pmgramming was carried forward with the technical and statistical assistgnce of the Bureau of Minea and the Geological Survey. Early in 1952some of the most serious mineral raw-material problems mmed well on the m y to solution. World-wide spiraling of prices had been arrested for most commodities, and the prices for many others had dropped substantially. Acute shortages had been relieved in many instanoes, with the result that controls exercised hy the National Production Administration were largely being relaxed, suspended, or eveu revoked. The Munitions Board had made substsntial progress in accumulating dozens of commodities for the Strategic Stockpile, but there was the prospect of new stringencies 88 defense industries reached full d e consumption. On the whole, however, the immediate mineral raw-material supply situation for conswuem, including tbe chemical industq, seemed to have p d its major crisii. The following d i s w sion presents d i t features of a number of mineral raw materials important to the chemical industries. Antimony
Domestic mine production of antimony ores increased about 45% in 1951, while total imports of primary antimony in metal, ores, concentrates, and needle antimony increased 7%. Consumption of primary antimouy increased about 17%. Although the hulk of the antimony consumption is in metallic form, largely as alloys, nevertheless chemical u888 are significant. As metal, for example, it ia important as a hardening agent in lead storage-battery plates. In the chemical field antimony oxides are used for flame proofing textiles and in opacifying enamels. The oxides and sulfides are used 88 coloring agente and paint pigments-white, black, vermilion, yellow, blue, and others. Arsenic
Pmduction of white arsenic in the United States increased 22% in 1951 over that in 1950 and exceeded the 1946-50 average (14,734 sbort tons) by 10%. Imports for consumption in 1951 decreased 2% from 1950. producer stocks of white arsenic increaeed from 2479 tons on December 31, 1950, to 4790 tons December 31, 1951.
Of the total white a d c available for United States consumption in 1951, domestic production (from domestic and foreign ores) accounted for 53% and imports 47%. Apparent consumption was 1839 tons leas than supply. Droughts in the cotton belts during the year reduced the requirements for pesticides. Su5cient *cks of the organic insecticides were available to reduce the requirements of lead arsenate and calcium arsenate. The major part of.white arsenic produced is consumed in the manufacture of calcium and lead arsenate insecticides. ArEnic is also consumed in glsas manufactum, sheep dip, poisoned baits, pharmaceuticals, and acid-resistant copper and antimonial lead alloys. Wolman ealts or h l i t h (25% sodium arsenate) is used as a woad preservative. Barite
Production of barite continues to incresse, principally bemuse of the d e r a t e d domestic oil-well drilling p m g m . Not only are more wells being drilled, but the average depth is increasing. Supplies in general have been adequate to take
Val. 44, No. 6
care of requirements, with the possible exception of a recently
reported l m l shortage of chemical-gmde barite. BOUXH.
The chemical industries c o m d approximately 5% of the 3,900,000 long tons of bauxite used in the United Ststen in 1951. In addition, approximately 5% of the alumina, which WBB made almost exclusively from bauxite, went into chemical prowdug. The chemical induahy generally q u i r e a bauxite of low iron and low silica content. About 45% of the industry's requirements came from South America, and the remainder was minedin Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia. The chief end urn of bauxite and alumina in the chemical industry are for the sizing of paper, the puriiication of water. the manufacture of fluuxes, the manufacture of certgin petleum producta. Excepting alumina, which is used largely for the production of metsl, alumina sulfate is the most important, tonnagewiee, of the aluminum chemicalsproduced from bauxite. Alumina is used in the chemical industry primarily for the production of aluminum chloride, aluminum fluoride, and iron-free aluminum sulfate. Metallic aluminum, largely in the form of scrap and secondary ingot, is used for production of anhydrous aluminum chloride. Bismuth
The 1951 United States supply of b m u t h metal, the largeat m r reoorded, exceeded that for 1950 by 10%. Sustained h i output of primsry lead (from which most domestic bismuth ia woh as a by-product) resulted in a total domestic production of bismuth metal 33% above that in 1950. Exports of bismuth metal during 1951 d e e d 26% from the 1950 figure, and the United Kingdom again received the major portion. Bismuth is consumed mainly in compounding of low-fusibility, bismuth-rich nonfemus alloys and phsrmsceuticals used principally for the treatment of stomach disorders. The most useful fusible alloys contain 40to 60% bismuth, with varying proportions of other metals, such as tin,lead, cadmium, antimony, indium, and zinc. Alloys of this type have become applicatiom in the airatrategic because of their tim-vkg craft, machiue-tool, and automotive indwtnies. A few importent u8es are in making thin-walled tubing to permit bending,spotting and securing dies and punches, pattemmaking, and electrofonning. Bromine
Pushed by the demand for antiknock fuels, bromine production continued to expand after a postwar low. Sales in 1950 were 98,500,OOO pounds (bromine content of all primary bromides), the high& since the 102,604,000 pounds of the banner war year 1944. Sea water and well brines account for nearly all pmduction, and expansionhas been about equal for both processes. Ethylene dibromide, intermediate in tetraethyllead, continues to account for the majority of production. Cadmium
The en& domestic supply of primary cadmium is recovered as a by-product concurrently fmm the treatment of ores of other metals, principally zinc. Production of primary metallic cadmium and primary compoundsincreased from 4,790,630 pounds in 1939 to 8,779,856 pounds in 1944 and averaged 8,576,216 pounds per year in the period 1949 to 1951. Although cadmium is used chiefly as a protective coating for iron and steel and, to a much d l e r extent, in copper-base alloys, large quantities of the metal are
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
June 1952
used in chemical compounds. Cadmium sulfide and sulfwlenide are a t a n d d agenta for producing yellow and red colors, respectively, in paint, map, rubber, ceramicw, textiles, paper, printing ink,and other producta. Virtually all the csdmium oxide, hydrate, and chloride produced is used in cadmium plating solutions. Cadmium bromide, cbloride, and iodide are used in photographic h, pmceas engraving, and lithographing. Csdmium acetate and nitrate are used as ceramic S cadmium sulfate is used in phsrmscauticals. -K ~ B Z ~and Chrornitn -...- ......
Consumption of chromite by the chemical industry in the United S t a h reached ita highest p i n t in 1951, totaling 198,634 short tons. Although the industry has used o m from other areae--nsmelv. Philioninea and Rurulia--it now or. .. ~ ~ . ~ ",the ~~~. e r a h exclusively on Transvasl Grade B friable (Union-if south usca). che,,,ical-gde ,,hromite should contain 43 to 45% chromic oxide and less than 5% silica. Imn content is not objectionable. a common +re ratio b e i i 1.6 to 1. The cimnical industry con& chromite ~ e c d i u mbichromate, which in turn is made into various compounds. Approximstely 1.5 tons of chromite is used per ton of chemical pmduced. These chemicals are consumed principally in the manufacture of pigments, in metal proeesainp, and in leather tgnning and to aleaeereatent in textiles and in chemical and dye manufacture. ~~~
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Copper
By far the chief chemical use of copper is in the manufsotu- of copper sulfate, although copper oxide and o a e r m-
~
r
l
1225
pounds also have important ~888. Of the 106,944short tons of copper d a t e shipped in 1951,42'% went to sgricultnre as an insecticide, germicide, and fungicide; in grape culture; for f e r t i l i i and for other agricultural purposes. Copper oxide also is used as a f e r t i l i r material, in the manufactureof paint, in petroleum catalysts, in primary batteries, and in other ways. Domestic mine output of copper was 928,576 tons in 1951. Consumption of newly mined copper approximated 1,303,000 tons. No comprehewive quantitative data on use of copper by the chemical industry are-avaihble. Lead
Domestic mine output of recoverable lead averaged about 418,000 short tons annually from 1939to 1951, resching a peak of 496,239 tons in 1942 and declining to 390,428 tons in 1951.
During the w e period lead consumption in the United States increased substantially-from 867,000 tons in 1989 to an average of 1,124,490 tons in 1949-51. Industrial and military requiremenkt in exof domestic mine output have been met by g& expsndad imports and by increased recovery from secondarysources. Approximately 10% of the lead consumed in the United Statea is used by the chemical industries, principally in tetraethyllead. Because of the remarkably high cord o n resistance of lead, it has many important applications in the chemical industry, the most commonplace of which are lead or lead-lied pipee, pumps, valves, tsnks, dnuns, table tops, sink%, and miscellaneous equipment. In addition, 10 to 15% of the total annual consumption of lead-&& white lead. red lead. lithame. leaded sinc oxide. and lead d a t e is us& for pigments. T h e compounds a k used in the manufacture of a wide variety of products, including painta and
-
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d
k
k
.
SULFUI millions If brig I
m rlII
d Ii 71111
1226
I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G CHEMISTRY
varnishes, ceramics, insecticides, textile dyes, printing inks, rubber, and floor coverings.
Lithium
The use of lithium minerals and compounds has increased rapidly in recent years. In addition to specialized applications of defense significance, important u w are in all-purpose greaw, ceramic and glassware, aluminum welding and bra5 ing fluxes, and air conditioning. With many potential new and expanded uses in prospect, there is a general atmosphere of optimism in the industry. Because of the limited number of producers in this field, total production figurea are not available from government sources. Production, which is in the order of a few thousand tons a year, is ins&cient to meet all demands, and civilian users have been seriously cuFtailed in receiving supplies. In view of the substantial progreea being made by private industry in expanding production facilitiesmining, millig, and processing-no government aid, in the form of loans or certificates of nececuity, has been granted. Several new lithium compounds have come out of the laboratory and are now in commercial production, the most significant of which are the lithium bleaches and lithium aluminum hydride. New production facilities and new royalty arrangements for the latter compounds are expected to stimulate chemical processors to take advantage of its versatile reducing properties. A major lithium producer is now completing new facilities which should lead to increased and more efficient production of lithium compounds. Magnesium Compounds
The principal sources of magnesium compounds are magnesite ore, hrinea, bitterns, and sea water. Dolomite is also a source of magnesia in such end products as refractories and certain chemic&. The increased demand for steel hae in turn increased the demand for basic refractories. Use of magnesite as a substitute for chrome in producing basic refractory brick and shapes has provided at least a potential demand for magnesite as well as “synthetic magnetite.” For the paid several years the demand for basic refractories in the steel industry has increased gradually. It is estimated that the over-all demand for magnesium compounds in 1951 will be 10 to 15% above the consumption in 1950. Manganese
The chemical applications of manganese may be clawiEed under two major headings, one wherein the element enters into the 6nal product and the other wherein it serves as a vehicle for the introduction of oxygen into a reaction. Both u 8 ~ 8require high-grade raw material containing manganese as a dioxide, which is obtaiible from relatively few areasnamely, Cuba, French Morocco, Gold Coaet, and the U.S.S.R. The historical applications of manganese in the chemical industry have been in the production of permanganates, hydroquinones, nicotinic acid, dyes and dye intermediates, and man-
-
-METALS
Production and value ot selected Items
Lime
During the past 2 years the construction and industrial markets for l i e have increased substantially. After the onset of the conflict in Korea building continued at a high level, and the defense program brought forth large expansion programs both in the chemical and metallurgical industries that required lime as a raw material. In cone8quence, increasesof production capacity were undertaken both to satisfy the current demands and to provide for the additional demands that are anticipated in the next few years. Output of open-market lime totaled 7,478,000 tons in 1950,increased again in 1951.
Vai. 44, No. 6
Quantity in rhort Ions except as Wed. Value in thourondr of dollars. Sour
