CHEMICALS: Sulphur Shortage

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Sulphur is one of the mainstays of U.S. industry. It is needed for everything from steel, fertilizer and rubber, to paper, rayon and flea powder. It is also one of the most plentiful of raw materials; in its most common form—pyrites deposits (sulphur mixed with other materials)—millions of tons are found above ground all over the world. Yet last week the U.S. and the whole Western bloc of nations were short of sulphur.

Fertilizer manufacturers, who use 35% of all U.S. sulphur, appeared before a House Agriculture subcommittee and complained that the shortage was cutting their output, thus threatening farm production. Last week, J. Harold Wilson, President of Britain's Board of Trade, told the House of Commons that the shortage was about to cripple British industry. "I am bound to tell the House," said Wilson, "that it presents a very grave picture indeed."

The reason for the shortage of one of the world's most common elements is that sulphur has been so easy to get in the past that nobody really bothered hustling for it. As late as World War I, the U.S. had to import more than one-third of its supply. But since the early '30s, the U.S. has provided an increasing stream of pure sulphur, or "brimstone," from the rich salt domes of the Gulf coast.

Cheap & Pure. Like many another sulphur user, Britain relied on the deposits in Texas and Louisiana for 90% of its supply. While it lasted, no one could match U.S. brimstone in price or purity. Sulphur from pyrites deposits was largely ignored, since brimstone is cheaper and easier to use. But as demand for sulphur rose to more than 150% of the peak war years, the rich Gulf coast brimstone deposits began to run out. Reserves above ground shrank from an 18 months' supply to a scant six months'.

The two chief producers in the U.S., Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. and Freeport Sulphur Co., have cut their domestic deliveries 15% to 20%. The National Production Authority pared exports down to two-thirds of last year's 1,200,000 tons. As a result, Britain, which buys 40% of the total U.S. export, faces big cuts in her chemical industry, has already cut back rayon production 20% and may soon be forced to reduce it another 20%.

Costly & Slow. Short of uncovering big new brimstone deposits, there is little hope of stepping up production immediately to meet the demand. In Britain and the U.S., sulphur production from pyrites is being increased, but it will be at least two years before the effect is really felt. Plants using pyrites rather than brimstone to make sulphuric acid cost twice as much to build, five times as much to operate. NPA last week was getting ready to put all sulphur on an allocation basis, and give the lion's share to defense industries.