Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1939, Síða 478
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LE NORD
altered. In reality the changes are even more important than
shown by the figures above. In the German manufacture of pig-
iron enters not only ore-iron but also, to a certain extent, scrap-
iron and wastes containing iron, such as slag and burnt pyrites.
Of the total production of pig-iron in 1938 probably only 15,3
million tons are, as already shown, derived from ore. If this is
taken into account, it will be seen that the proportion between
ore and scrap-iron is about the same in Sweden as in Germany,
Swedish iron-works being charged to practically 100 % with
iron-ore. This tendency still prevails. To every country, which
is an important consumer of iron, that is, which has large re-
sources of iron, the ore will lose its importance as raw material.
Owing to an increased production the contribution of ore is
still considerable, but its relative importance as raw material in
the production of iron has declined. Much could be said about
this very interesting tendency, since the general public seems to
be surprisingly ignorant of its existence. In this connection we
will restict ourselves to illustrate its influence on the subject now
before us. It is obvious, that the increased importance of scrap-
iron, particularly accentuated during the last few years, has made
Germany less dependent on imported ore. The same effect has
evidently the recent large increase in domestic ore-production
and, to a less extent, the incorporation of Austria. The following
table is an attempt to prove this diminished dependence in per-
cent. The data about ore-production in 1939 and 1940 is based
on the figures from the four years plan, reduced by 25 %. For
both years the ore- and steel-production of Austria has also been
included. It has further been presumed that the importance of
scrap-iron as a rawmaterial continues to increase at the same rate
as during the last ten years.
Iron from: Domestic pro- duction Im- ported ore Scrap- iron etc. Steel- pro- duction Domestic raw- materiai
1929 (million tons) 1,8 9,4 7,3 18,5 49 %
1939 (million tons) 6,6 10,0 9,1 25,7 61 %
1940 (million tons) 8,7 9,0 9,3 27,0 67%
It must be explicitly pointed out that certain figures stated
above are doubtful and founded on presumptions. Thus part of
the scrap iron and of other kinds of waste probably come from