Mr. ABERNETHY. We will stand adjourned until 10 o'clock Friday morning. (Whereupon, at 11:45 p. m., the committee adjourned.) 1949 FERTILIZER SUPPLIES FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1949 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Mr. ABERNETHY. The committee will come to order. Yesterday, Mr. Hoeven propounded the following question to Mr. Jopling, the representative of the Phillips Chemical Co.: "What do you suggest to rectify the problem that confronts you?" This morning, the Phillips Chemical Co., over the signature of Mr. Jopling, has submitted a further answer to that question in the form of a letter which, without objection, will be made a part of the record at the point where the question was propounded by Mr. Hoeven. At this time I would like to ask permission to insert in the record statements of various and sundry producers of nitrogen, which have been supplied by those producers who were unable to appear in person, as well as other pertinent data, statistics, and tables. Without objection, those will be inserted in the record and will be supplied to the reporter by Mr. Heimburger of the committee's staff. (The information referred to is as follows:) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, BALFOUR, GUTHRIE & Co., LTD., Committee on Agriculture, Washington, D. C. (Attention: Mr. Thomas G. Abernethy, M. C., Chairman, Subcommittee on Fertilizers.) DEAR SIRS: In reply to your letter of March 2, Balfour, Guthrie & Co., Ltd., handle all the fertilizer products made by Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co., of Canada, Ltd., that are sold in the United States. The principal areas covered are the States-Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, Montana, and northwestern Wyoming. We also ship a small tonnage into the north central Midwest States. The fertilizers sold are sulphate of ammonia, ammonium phosphates 16-20-0 and 11-48-0 and ammonium nitrate. The tonnage of all fertilizers expressed as nitrogen shipped to the western coast States in the 1947-48 fertilizer year are 41,000 tons, and for the same period 3,100 tons to the north central Midwest area. We expect to ship about the same tonnages for the fertilizer year 1948-49, that is July 1, 1948, to June 30, 1949. We have been slow in delivering our tonnages this spring, January 1 to March 30, 1949, due to several reasons beyond our control. First, lack of boxcars. Second, very severe weather conditions. Third, heavy shipments overseas under the IEFC program. We have just been assured by our producers that shipments will come forward rapidly now, if boxcars are available, hence the early future should see more abundant supplies coming into the areas we serve. We have been distributing the tonnage received as equitably as possible; approximately 30 percent of the west coast tonnage going to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and 70 percent to California and Arizona-Utah area. We are quite hopeful for more tonnage for the next fertilizer year. If the above information is not sufficient for your needs, we will be pleased to answer any further questions. Sincerely yours, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, BALFOUR, GUTHRIE & Co., LTD., Committee on Agriculture, Washington, D. C. (Attention: Mr. Thomas G. Abernethy, M. C., Chairman, Subcommittee on Fertilizers.) DEAR SIRS: Supplementing our letter of March 9 regarding fertilizer supplies, we have just had word from our suppliers, the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. of Canada, Ltd., that they expect to release another 4,750 to 5,000 tons of nitrogen for the 3 months of the present fertilizer year April, May, and June. This material will be in the form of 11-48-0 and 16-20-0 ammonium phosphate and sulfate of ammonia. There may be a possibility of additional ammonium nitrate being released, but to date we do not have definite knowledge of this fact. The added materials will be divided in our sales area as equitably as possible. We trust that this added information will be of benefit to your committee. Sincerely yours, Mr. THOMAS G. ABERNETHY, M. C., BALFOUR, GUTHRIE & Co., LTD., Manager, Fertilizer Sales. CHILEAN NITRATE SALES CORP., New York, N. Y., March 9, 1949. Chairman, Subcommittee on Fertilizer, Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. ABERNETHY: I wish to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of March 2, 1949, and am happy to submit herein a statement in regard to the importation and distribution of Chilean nitrate of soda in the United States for the current season. The total importation of Chilean nitrate of soda for the United States market assigned by the International Emergency Food Committee, Washington, D. C., for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1949, amounts to 600,000 metric tons, or approximately 660,000 short tons. This is an increase of approximately 22,000 short tons over the preceding year's allocation. From July 1, 1948, through March 4, 1949, there has been shipped from Chile to the United States over 400,000 short tons of Chilean nitrate of soda and the remainder of the assignment of about 260,000 short tons is scheduled for loading in Chile during the remaining months of this season. It is hoped that the final cargo for the season will arrive in time to be delivered and used on this year's crops. Less than 5 percent of such supplies are scheduled for industrial purposes. In spite of the difficulties that go with maximum operations the production, loading, and shipping program is substantially on schedule. At the present time we do not know of any insurmountable difficulties which would seriously interfere with our scheduled loading and shipping program to complete the assignment of Chilean nitrate of soda for the United States. As to distribution, 18 United States ports are used to receive Chilean nitrate of soda in order that an efficient and equitable distribution of the material can be made to customers. Chilean Nitrate Sales Corp. continues to allocate nitrate of soda used in agriculture to fertilizer manufacturers on an historical basis with some provision for the requirements of new manufacturers and new plants in the area served. The current year's increase of 22,000 short tons has been assigned proportionately to the Atlantic and Gulf areas with the result that about 60 percent of the total supplies will be delivered in the Atlantic Seaboard area, 34 percent in the Gulf area and 6 percent in the west coast area. |