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Show ZINC INDUSTRY OF AMERICA 16 AIDED BY EUROPEAN WAR I Sudden jise in Prices Due to Shutting Off of Australian and Algerian Supplies of Ore THE war in Europe s proving a , mi. ed bles ng to tl e world sine ndustrv It has impro ed the z nc metal s tuation in the "Lnited States On the other hand this Is the only nation nhch has prof ted , from the European situation, n so farj as it affects z nc The other producers j and consumers notablv Au tralia with its hea y ore production Ge many and j Belgium with the r hea sine ter pro ; duction and export trade and England France and Russia v th tl e r strong im j ports of z nc heretofore fro cont nenta j Europe are affected ad e se y and to a ery marked extent, by the war The sudden Improvement the price of z nc s nee the outbreak of the war is ascribable to the shutting off of t e Aus tra Ian and Algerian supplies of ore, and to the curtailment n continental Europe s mine and melter output owin0 to the conscr ptlon of emploes for the armies and a so owing to many of tl e Be gium Austrian and Po ish p ants being within 1 the zone of actual hostilities Australia Important Producer Austra a hardl at a fgures in the world s smelter production of zinc albeit it furn shes o er one fif h of the wor d s upp es of z nc ore The Broken Hill d &tr ct, in Jsew South Wales is the pre mler z nc camp with an annual output of 20 000 tons of zinc in exported con centrates. The Australian z no ore sup p ies have been shut down owing to the tying up of the ocean carrier trade in the Pacific and a o owing to the curtailment by most of the pr ncipal buyers who strange to say are chiefly Belgians a d Germans rather than British. The re sumption of Austral n shipments and the r transfer to the British Isles is un 1 ke y owing to England s restricted erne ter capacity The Alger an z nc ore output has been elim nated through the destruction of the sh pping docks bv the German Medlter ranean fleet at the outbreak of the war Th s ore ent mostly to France Two thirds of Germany s zinc output comes from Siles a in the eastern part of the empire. This supply which fur nlshes the bulk of Germany export z nc already great y curtailed by the war 3 In danger of being annihilated alto gether by the Russian army s ad ance Naturall the S lesian e -port business is nil Belgium, which. Is the world s third 1 largest spelter producer after the United ' states and German has ts z nc Indus I tr ju t now paralyzed All the works I and the princ pa domestic consumers are j n the zone of a tl e host! .ties. Be! gium s heavy export of z nc to Great Britain and to some extent to Rhenish Prussia and to France is now nil as is also its domestic z nc trade Europe Must Buy From U S England finds its net imports of 125 000 tons of zinc from Be g um and Germany cut off as are a so ts supp les of ore from Australia Its zinc buying has sud denly been transferred to the Un ted States from cont nental Europe and this is the princ pal factor in the impro ed z nc meta situation this side of the At lantlc Prance alo must come to ua for the zinc she former y purchased from Be glum and Pru s a as well as the z nc she sme ted from A gerian ores England s z nc consumption despite the war is e -pected to suffer no great cur tailment s nee si e wi I probab y handle much of the galvanized iron and brass trade -which formerly fe 1 to the lot of Germanj and continental Europe and owing too to the Increased brass con sumption in war munitions. Great Britain s zinc capacity is around o 000 tons of spelter per annum It is apparent therefore that even with the resumption of Austra an zinc ore ship ments. It -nlll be impossible to divert these shipments to England and the United Kingdom w 1 sti 1 have to come to the United States for the bulk of her z nc requirements To make a bad situation worse for England she had curtal ed her Imports and expanded her zinc exports early In the jear This ate up surplus stocks accumulated In 1913 Production and Consumption StaUstics of the smelter production of z nc and consumption n the various ountries are gi en in tne subjoined table. The figures are, in the main those of the United States geological survey It may be mentioned in passing that 60 per cent of the zinc output is used n galvanizing Iron etc some "0 per ent n the manufacture of brass (which s usually a third zinc and two-thirds copper) 9 per cent ineheet zinc and 11 per cent for zinc paints zinc dust and m scellaneous other purposes. World s zinc production and consump tion In short tons spelter output not ore mi u s in. is o In ed States " S,r tit 801 M SH KtlU Consumed OS.ro 340 S41 280 059 lijH Germany O" p" mm t!( r.w s m Con umed n2. 948,898 M 14 UH.tU Eng aod o p ir am aM am Con umed SO.OOO 904.141 199 474 IM.B89 Fniuoe SpeJo 2" put T 389 "9 54J 70.791 88.19 Conaumed 90 000 96.870 96. ISO 8S.9&8 Belgium O" Pt 117 999 m.m 915.990 130.31 Conaumed 70 000 71 9M 1.819 II.XU Holland Output M tin 98.I80 76. 0M Zt.111 Conaumed 4.000 4.109 4,409 4 409 Austria Runrarr and Italy outpu a 9H n.to is. soi u.a Consumed 84,000 (MR ii OS) 44.197 Ruula Consumed U.000 91.98T 9J.8U 97 447 Consumed n.000 81.947 99.118 97 447 q and Bar a. Aostralla. Japao, others 2" p 7 7 n in n Conaumed to 000 91.715 19,H u U3 o Id a tota On pu 1.084.997 1 0-8 814 988 081 899 048 Conaumed 1 Oil wo 1.084 804 998 717 880.919 |