U.S. PASSES HALF OF WAR STOCKPILE; 6.3 Billion in Key Materials on Hand, 500 Million Worth on Order, O.D.M. Says
By Charles E. Egan Special To the New York Times.
WASHINGTON, March 28— The United States has completed stockpiling half of the seventy- four critical materials it will need in the event of an emergency, the Office of Defense Mobilization said today.
Congress in 1946 authorized the purchase and storage of strategic materials for war use. The announcement today was the first time since then that the O. D. M. had made public the materials, although not the quantities, on which its purchasing program had been completed. The information was contained in the agency’s semi-annual report to Congress. It covered the period from July 1 to Dec. 31, 1955.
The over-all stockpile objective contemplates the purchase and storage of $11,200,000,000 worth of critical and strategic materials. As of Dec. 31 there was $6,300,000,000 worth of goods on hand and $500,000,000 worth on order.
The program is aimed at insuring an adequate stock of critical war materials despite possible interference with imported supplies and damage to domestic supply sources.
The stockpile is divided into two groupings, for which “minimum” and “long-term” objectives are set. The minimum stockpile objectives discount to a degree distant and unreliable foreign sources of supply.
The long-term stockpile program was established in 1954. It was designed to provide additional materials security for metals and minerals. This was done by setting objectives at quantities large enough to eliminate any wartime reliance on distant supply sources.
The long-term objectives for a material are considered not so urgent as the minimum objective. The agency expects, therefore, to stretch its long-term purchasing activities over a considerable period of time.
The products for which purchasing has been completed for both the minimum and long-term stockpile needs are:
Abrasives, crude aluminum oxide, chrysotile asbestos, crocidolite asbestos, Madagascar Crystalline flake graphite, graphite, other than Ceylon and Madagascar crystaline, rare earths, tantalite and vanadium.
Products for which minimum stockpile objectives have been reached are:
Agar aluminum, bauxite (metal grade Surinam type, cadmium, castor oil, cocoanut oil, columbite, abaca cordage fibers, sisal cordage fibers, extra long staple cotton, industrial diamonds, acid grade fluorspar, graphite, Madagascar crystalline fines, hyoscine, lead, battery grade manganese natural ore, metallurgical grade manganese ore and mica (Muscovite splittings).
Also, palm oil, pyrethrum, quartz crystals, quinidine, natural rubber, sperm oil, tin, tungsten, chestnut vegetable tannin, quebracho vegetable tannin, wattle vegetable tannin and zinc.
According to the report, the strategic and critical materials on hand at the close of 1955 were stored in 259 places throughout the country. The materials were distributed in military depots, Government-owned warehouses and Government-owned sites for storing of bulk ores, in vaults and in more than 100 commercial storage establishments and a number of commercial oil storage facilities.
Deliveries to the stockpile during the six-month period covered in the report amounted to $167,000,000. However, the goods held in storage increased some $433,000,000 in value during that time, largely through price increases.
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