The Last Shortage

From the War Production Board last week came an alarmed report: U.S. stocks and importations of tin are so low that they may be nonexistent by the end of 1946. Since tin is vital to a host of industries, this might hobble reconversion. So WPB intends to keep a tight control over tin until large-scale importations from the Far East are resumed.

In its report, WPB explained that on last July 1 the U.S. had a total tin stockpile of only 95,572 tons. (1944 consumption: 89,500 tons.) During the first six months of 1945, tin was disappearing at "an even greater rate." War's end did not help: as military demand lessened, civilian demand soared. Warned WPB: unrestricted consumption "might easily reach a 120,000-ton rate and [exhaust] reserve stocks in a very short period."

Actually, WPB may be painting the picture blacker than it really is. Its dire predictions are based on the still unproved belief that there is little possibility of the U.S. getting tin from the rich mines of the Far East (Malaya, Burma, Siam, The Netherlands East Indies) for two years--the time it takes to build, ship and set up dredging machinery. Tin experts think that hidden stocks of tin and Jap machinery still may be found there.

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