Too Much Tin?

The U.S. now has more than 100,000 tons of tin left from the large accumulations made during 1940-41. This is not enough to last one year at the 1941 high rate of consumption (143,342 tons). But by using tin sparingly and substitute materials generously, U.S. wartime tin consumption has been cut to about 50,000 tons a year. The U.S. stockpile will therefore last about two years. But the real news about tin is that the U.S. Government, despite this comfortable supply, has no intention of taking tin off the critical list.

Though this two-year supply is big enough to free the U.S. of its present dependence on Bolivia, Washington is not indifferent to Bolivian tin. The prevailing WPB view is that the U.S. should actually build up a stockpile of as much as four years' supply.

But unless imports increase or consumption decreases, there is little chance of adding to present stocks. Before the war, practically all U.S. tin requirements were supplied by the Malayan and East Indies mines. At present the U.S. receives tin from the high-cost Bolivian mines at the annual rate of 18,000 tons; and from a comparatively new source, the Belgian Congo, at the annual rate of 12,000 tons. A little more than 20,000 tons comes from reclaiming operations. Imports from China, French West Africa, and Mexico, coming in driblets, might be increased in the future.

Government sources asserted that the U.S. as yet has set no postwar policy on tin. But a four years' supply--and the new U.S. tin smelter in Texas, which has an annual capacity in excess of 50,000 tons-- would make potent weapons in dealing with the international tin cartel.

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