TRADE RESEARCH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 March 1939, Page 4

TRADE RESEARCH

UNPREDECENTED ACTIVITY IN EUROPE AN AMERICAN REPORT. EXPANSION OF INDUSTRIES. NEW YORK, January 21. Industrial research of unprecedented magnitude and diversity is being pressed throughout Europe, according to a survey reported to the American Chemical Society by Dr. William A. Ha■mor, Associate Director of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. Huge chemical programmes are going forward in Germany and Russia particularly, he said, adding that Poland, Finland, Hungary, and the Balkan countries arc striving to establish “crisis-resistant” heavy chemical manufactures to supplement their agrarian economy. In the Reich alone, some 220,000 technologists are at work. Thirty-six research organisations are sponsored by the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for the Advancement of Science. Based on' performed manhours, the German chemical industry has expanded 40 per cent in three years. Practically every field of chemistry is being explored by German chemists. “In the Soviet Union,” says Dr. Hamor, “investigational pressure is being applied on a greater front to the development of natural resources of magnitude, to industrialisation with speed, to research on both basic and fine chemicals as part of one big programme.” Striking advances are reported from Italy, which has attained first place among European producers of rayon and short fibres, and makes about 16 per cent of the world’s output. “The Italian textile industry shows a decided autocratic tendency, for the country is relatively poor in raw material and seeks to. make itself as independent as possible/’ it is pointed out. Poland is building up an armament industry in the Carpathian region for which new chemical supplies will be needed. This country has two Stateowned nitrogen plants; and its fertiliser consumption has been increasing. Synthetic rubber is in production at Dembica.

Rumania, .rich in fuels L is expanding its sfeel industry. Production of carbon black is being encouraged. The cultivation of soyabeans is extensive. Yugoslavia recently commenced the manufacture of iron and steel and the production of electrolytic copper. Now plans are afoot to utilise the Nation’s lead and zinc ores, and to construct nitric acid, fertiliser, and glycerol plants. The Yugoslav chemical industry, it is explained, is mainly a heritage from Austria-Hungary, and is concerned with the' production of heavy chemicals. In Hungary, titaniferous iron ores and rocks have been studied, and researches have related to methods for working up titanium ores. BELGIAN FACILITIES. In Belgium, Dr. Hamor finds investigational facilities, greatly improved with research, very comprehensive on the viscosity of glass, structure of magnetic steels, (metallic carbides, incandescent filaments, and copal. Rich deposits of tantalum and columbium have been disclosed in the Belgian Congo, following a search for petroleum. Many technological investigations were disclosed in progress in The Netherlands. The sulfuric acid industry has been enlarged, and a plastic made from potato flour is under development. In Denmark, oil exploration is under way, after preliminary investigations disclosed indications of petroleum. The paint and varnish industries of both Denmark and Sweden have increased their production, and Sweden has enlarged the manufacture of nitrogenous fertilisers. Norway is making advances in paper technology. Finland has expanded the cellulose industry. s ' In France, improved mining and extracting equipment has been installed in the potash industry, several manufacturers have been studying the production of sulfuric acid from gypsum, and research has been active in the nitric acid and nitrogenous fertiliser fields. The French Government has stopped practically all alcohol from entering motor fuel channels because of the needs of services contributing to national defence. From Japan, India, Palestine, Straits Settlements, and other regions, come reports of similar research activity. Dr. Hamor’s complete survey is published in the current issue of “Industrial and Engineering Chemistry.”