ources of iron ore where iron and steel
alone could be produced.

In regard to iron ore supplies of proper grade and quantity, the United
States is more nearly self-sufficing than any of its competitors. It
imports minor amounts of ore from Cuba and Canada, and even from Chile
and Sweden, to border points, in the main merely because these imported
ores can compete on a price basis with the domestic ores. The entire
exclusion of these ores, however, would make comparatively little
difference in the total volume of our iron and steel industry; though it
would probably make some difference in distribution, to the disadvantage
of plants along the coast. There is only one kind of iron ore in which
the United States has anything approaching deficiency, and that is ore
extremely low in phosphorus, adapted to making the so-called
low-phosphorus pig which is needed for certain special steels. Ordnance
requirements during the war put a premium on these steels. While some of
these extremely low-phosphorus ores are mined in the United States,
additional quantities have been required from Spain and Canada and to a
lesser extent from North Africa and Sweden. Also the Spanish pyrite,
imported ordinarily for its sulphur content, on roasting leaves a
residue of iron oxide extremely low in phosphorus which is similarly
used. The elimination of pyrite imports from Spain during the war,
therefore, was a considerable contributing factor to the stringency in
low-phosphorus iron ores. War experience showed that the United States
was dependent on foreign sources for 40 per cent or upwards of its needs
in this regard. Certain developments in progress, notably the project
for concentration of siliceous eastern Mesabi Range ores, make it likely
that future domestic production will more nearly be able to meet the
requirements.

The equivalent of 15 per cent of the iron ore mined in the United States
is exported as ore to Canadian ports on the Great Lakes and in the form
of crude iron and steel products to many parts of the world. England and
Germany are almost the sole competitors in the export trade.

When we turn to the minerals used for making the alloys of iron and as
accessories in the manufacture of iron, it appears that no one of the
principal iron and steel producing countries of the world is
self-supporting, but that these "sweeteners" must be drawn in from the
far corners of the earth. The importance of these minor constituents is
alt