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LIA20314
LEAD INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION
HCW TOM IT. M. T.
AO Cot Und 5trot
Kerch 7. 1757 SUBJECT! LEAP SITPIT *'O C7XAN3
IN Tti VXITrS T>
To Krt in of tb* Load Industries Aocl*tloo hdoMd plot* find a r*yrlnt of th* art!cl* "Load Supply
and Cseand In th* ttiit*d Su<t*s" which app**r*d in th* February, 1957 lsso* of "2nglno*rlnf and Kirin* Journal*" This presents n*ob*r* with
a statistical picture of th* l*d Industry for 1956 and th* outlook
for 1957. Ittra eopl** ar* svallabl* as lone as our supply lasts. Tory truly yours.
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MAJOR METALS
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laad Supply and Demand In the United State*'
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l*nmrvt area................ feme* nrre S*t* buflaM Srryv L*ry ........... ...
Set ue^rti pi wetel..
:i i > >!
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mwi 177.479 5OJ.0SI
264.149
Totel ......................
IJH.704 $1.02*
Total Htppb*.
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,iu.6e9 1.206.279
. H,*99
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Uti> ts 1956 was featured bv ea ex tremely stable market. a food but not exceptional It -el of consumption, and a continued world o'verwpply which * bits care of by Government stockpiling. Domestic mine production increased slightly wbik secondary pro* duction remained constant. Import* of lead to ore increased considerably but imports of metal declined. Con*ump> boo was off. brgely doe to the lower rate of automobile production, but was Hill the fourth kryevf year of record. Late in the year the Government start ed banering surplus agricultural com modities lor lead for a supplemental stockpile In addition lo iu regular stockpile purchases.
Frits. Except for a period of a few days in January 1956, the price was 16c per lb New York for the entire year. On Jan. 4 some sales were made at 16.5c and oi iha following day aQ sake were at that level. The pries dropptd bock to 16c *an I) and remained there.
ItorCrOhC- There can be little
douK that Government stockpiling
was responsible for this remarkable
stability. Purchase* for stockpile un
der the program announced in |9**
whkh authorised pur
up to
200.000 ions of doox sueally anioed
lead, amounted to nearly 60.000 sons in 1956 aod must have brought the tool bought since 1954 close lo the 200.000-too IrveL la addition, the Government started bartering surplus agricultural commodities for foreign kad late in th: yrar. The total amount of kad thus purchased for the supple mental stockpile is not definitely known but it is estimated that in ri ces* of 30.000 tons were delivered to 1936 with considerably larger amosmts already bought for later delivery. U has been estimated that U-5. Govern ment stockpile holding* of aQ k/nds exceed a year's kad consumption for both military and civilian require
Production of lead in ores mined in the U S. increased about 4% to about 350,000 tons in 1956, partly the re sult of freedom from ma>or work stoppages. Secondary kad production remained constant and. M 500.000 Ions estimated, was about equal lo the preceding year. This again w m near the record of 5J2^X)0 lone act in 1947.
Imports of foreign kad ores and base butl>oo were at an all-time high, defeating 15% over 1955 to a little over 200,000 tons. The bulk of import ed *xt came from Peru. South Africa, Canada aod Australia. Imports of kad
metal. on the other hand, again re corded a decrease. They amounted to an estimated 240.000 tons, off nearly I O'* from the preceding year, and in cluding the rather substantial tonnage already mentioned which was obtained lor the supplemental stockpile by bar ter.
Total supplies, therefore, did not differ much from 1955 at about 293.000 tons, an increase of only about 1%. However, in 1955 there was $ substantial reduction of producer's stocks which further added to local supplies while in 1956 producer's stocks increased slightly.
as previously stated, was good but oof a record. At about 1.195,000 tons it was off about 1% from 195$, yet was the fourth largest year on record, exceeded only by 1950, 1953 and 1955. As consumers* stocks fell 10.000 tons during the year, a UtUe It s * than lOO.ooo tons of the total supply remained for stockpiling or was unaccounted for (see table}. Fig ures given previously indicate that most of this tonnage went to stockpiles of one kind or another.
Consumption in the evrfy part of the year continued relatively high with the momentum either.*d in late 1955, aod stockpile offerinp were therefore minimal during the first few months.
leprbifed frwsst INGINURINO AND MINING JOUtNAl Febrwory 1957
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However, cssnsumpMon off during
lead Ut In th U.S.1the summer, .h Duty *uh*untiai
Aockp-W offerings and the fait Nm
iSfcort l<-*l
new, psrtkuUrty **
batlnies,
Mir rv%M the l#h ita^l n* WVw lead
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t-.`. i*- u,'*d'"l
1911
1. ' * II. n
t'wa. Tin year wa* di*appmumg
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! tfw Urfry Wad consuming industry,
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Hori|t bjitmct, whish rxffevicd lha (.14*
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substantial setback in iuU*mib.W pto- B..U.V L
1 , U1J
ductiuA. THi amounted almost en T'<r.t*ffc)| W*|
l IM 1II
tirely for iU reduction of *K>u< t i.uoo knimoniiia . tMU, or 4%, of Wad used for this prod Foil .......
> ( 44.lt* : * Sill
uct, resuhmg in battery consumption of about >65.000 look Normally with
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;
i t 54*67 i*.;*9
more can oo the road, using bigger T>pr mrtaJ. . . . . .. mm ; 7*.0J
batteries and beng driven farther. one (.' kin*...... **, it M 59 in*
would expect rtfUctmrtt batteries Oittr uses .. . * ..
Its 49*
auki up tom of tbit lent. However,
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ping, storage aod handling of these products (He Navy Department** commitment k> an atomic navy means Substantial use of Wad for shutting Ul the future fur example, submarine may u*e several hundred W* of Wad shutting and (he Navy now has under convtfuvtion or orntraci more than a dozen. Likewise larger >ups use propotvonJ'ety larger quantities. In Industml 'hot" labortiones all tori* of Wad shielded equipment are employed and some of this equipment, such a* shielded industrial trucks, may have several tom of Wad shielding on each. A9 aO this looks like a strong growth market foe Wad.
Ostbsk. The automotive industry expects a better year in (957, produc tion for that year being recently esti
although it oat estimated tarty in the __ 1 year (hat battery consumption would
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mated as up 10" over 1956. So con sumption of Wad in batteries and solder
inertate, it nevtr materialized la fact,
should increase. On the other hand
for the fin* 10 months of the u re-
consumption of Wad for tetraethyl can
placement batteries were wliphtly off at about 19 H-miOiOA. The only way lo account for (hit rx chit batter** arc being built lo Utf loofrr. practically all new ear* are taunt the tarfer 12* battery, but the amaller 6* battery wiQ predominates in the replacement field.
On the other band, the second hrgWad me, tetraethyl Wad foe |*w
Kne anti knock compounds, gave an exceptional account of irsdf and much
mil equal performance on gawdim of one lower octane number and, on the surface, would appear lo reduce the weed foe tetraethyl Wad. Howcscr. au tomotive engineers are anxkv s to get maximum performance, with the wet result that compression ratios wiQ be stepped up further where fuel iajectkm systems are used and the amount of anti-knock ingredient used will be unaffected.
hardly he expected to show another phenomenal increase as it <JJ m 1956. In fact opening of new catalytic re forming plants may temporarily have a reducing effect on the demand for tetraeth*! Wad. Cable sheathing may
be expected to give a good account of itself. hut the Urge increase shown in 1956 ts not Itkcly to he repeated. The huge Federal highway ail program should create an expanded market for red Wad paint. Many states have al
more than offset the lou in battery
Third largest use of Wad h in cabW ready accepted the program.
buxines*. ConxumotioA there it esti mated about 195,000 tom, an increase of approximately 50.000 tom or nearly 20%. The figure it more remarkable became of greater production abroad with a new plant going into produc tion in Canada in the fan of 1956. A new plant aho started production in
sheathing, which also gave a surpris ingly good account of itself in 1956. lead consumption increased from about 121.000 tons to 154,000 tons, mote than IQ''*. probably the result of the huge utility expansion pro grams. Large amounts of Wad-covered telephone cable were imported into
On the supply side no*, much change is anticipated. Import*, may increase, but this would he largely due to stockpiW acquisitions ihnsigh barter. There
as of course uncertadry with respect to the extent of other stockpiling pur
chases in 1957, although Government officials have been making reassur
California and plant have been an nounced for two other new plants; an other in California and one m Illinois.
Obviously tetraethyl Wad manufac
this country in 1**56, to the consump
tion figures for the U.S. do not reflect the total amount of Wad-covered cable actually used.
ing statements along this line. It should aSo he borne in mind that invrr.icne* of Wad ire low--in the bands of both producers and conso
turers have great confidence in (he fu
Lead in solder shx wed a rather sub
ture growth of thh product. There has been much talk about the gas turbine nr free piston engine, neither of which would require high octane fuel, even tually displacing the conventional en gine with its need for tetraethyl Wad. The general feeling in informed quarken in both the automotive and pe troleum industries teems lo be (I) that wide commercial use of such en gine W a long way off and may never take place, since conventional engines will also be improved, or (2) they wiB only he satisfactory for limited special applications like the diesel en gine, which has been around many years and baa neve* lain over the kid.
Recent talk of fuel Injection sys tems has abo raised some conjecture m to their effect on tetraethyl WaJ If HteraBy adopted. Such systems per-
stantial drop of aKnit 15.000 tons lo
75.000 tons. This can Largely be ninH* used lo the lower automobile produc tion which reduced the need for body and radiator solder and the fact that 1955 was an extremely high year for solder. Despite the lower rate of home building. Wad used for building con struction and calking Wad showed little change, probably doc to w compensat ing increase in other types of con struction. Most other uses on which
ler the distant future the outlook is also encouraging. No large new pm duemg areas arc in sight which would be likrty to upset the supply picture. Recognizing that since World War II, Wad production has exceeded Indus trial requirements with the over-supply being stockpiled, growth industries lin ing Wad should tend to close this gap. Further growth in batteries, tetraethyl Wad and atomic shielding teems ob vious, The trend to lower temperature
sutiitics are available showed moder ate declines.
firing in most branches of the ceramic industries indicates a growing uat foe
There are other applications of Wad Wad compounds. Recent word indi
on which statistics are not separately cates the superiority of litharge si s
available but which nevertheless ere high temperature hibricaot for Jet en
worthy of comment. An s&lt is gines and the like.
Wad as a radiation shielding material. Growth in the shipping and use of radioisotopes has undoubtedly meant a growth in the use of Wad for ship
Against these expanding per capita uses, no major substitution for Wad
in other important tpplicatiooa ap pears imminent*
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