65° - 01.07.1968, Blaðsíða 11

The Rise of Chemical
and Allied Industries
by
BALDUR LINDAL
During the last five decades, an industrial
development has taken place in Iceland which is
now rapidly swinging toward the heavy chemical
and allied industrial sector. This activity promises
to be important in the future of the country.
The first signs of this trend were the herring
processing plants which were built in increasing
numbers in the nineteen twenties and thirties.
Today, practically every town around the coast
of the country has one or more of these plants,
either for herring or other fish. This was of course
a very natural development in view of the rich
fishing grounds and for the full utilization of the
fish products.
During the same period, considerable activity
took place in the light chemical industry, thus
there is now paint production, fish oil refining,
soap and detergent manufacture and others, all
of which were firmly established a long time ago.
But even though those these were the forerun-
ners, there were also developments of major
industrial enterprises of the type which have great
expansion potential today. Some of these are
based on local energy resources and minerals.
The first of these was an ammonium nitrate
fertilizer plant which has since essentially pro-
duced all the nitrogen fertilizer needed in this
country. This production was based entirely on
hydroelectric power obtained from the abundant
water power available. This plant is now ready
for expansion.
The second was a cement plant, of which the
most important raw material is seashells from
the bottom of the nearby ocean. For more than
a decade, this plant has supplied all the cement
Iceland needs.
The third major process industry came last
year when the complex technology of producing
diatomaceous filteraids was incorporated into a
plant facility. Here, natural heating is being used
in the manufacture of products obtained from a
local raw material — silica skeletons of diatoms
dredged out of an inland lake. The filteraid is
exported to neighboring European countries.
The fourth of these plants, and by far the
largest undertaking of this type in Iceland, is an
aluminium plant which is now under construction.
This production will owe its existence here al-
most entirely to inexpensive hydroelectric power.
Significantly, the product is mostly intended for
export, as is also the case with filteraids.
There are still more plants of this nature to
come. For a considerable time feasibility studies
have been made, ranging from oil refining to the
manufacture of more light metals, embracing a
wide variety of chemical manufactures. There is
little doubt that some of these wishful plans of
today will materialize in the near future. One
good reason for encouraging them is economic
stability; another, the strong confidence in the
practical aspects, both locally and abroad, as
may readily be seen by the fact that major inter-
national producers have already invested money
here along with local concerns.
Let us first consider the question of stability
and its relation to new export industries. Iceland
carries on an unusual amount of foreign trade,
relatively speaking. Many necessities of daily life
must be imported besides the multitude of other
things which a complex modern society needs in
its many sectors of activity. To meet the payment,
Iceland has exported fish and fish products al-
most exclusively, or to the extent of over 90% of
the total export. Unfortunately, fish products have
a very unstable price abroad, and, unfortunately,
the local catch of fish fluctuates greatly from
A graduate in chemical engineering from Mass.
Inst, of Technology, U.S.A., in 1949, Baldur Lin-
dal worked with the State Electricity Authority
until 1961. He has since worked independently
as a consultant in the development of industries
in Iceland.
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