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machinery output. "Metal products," the term used to cover mainly domestic household equipment, accounted for 18%. The production of specialized machinery such as machine tools, agricultural, metallurgical, and mining machinery, construction equipment, boilers, and internal combustion engines accounted for 28% of total machinery output. Production of selected items of the machine building industry is shown in Figure 15.

Throughout the postwar period, Poland has been an important producer of railroad locomotives and rolling stock. It is second only to the USSR in the production of freight cars in the Communist world. Although production declined during the 1966-70 plan period, by 1971 output had nearly recovered to the peak level of 16,600 units produced in 1966. Generally, about two-fifths of the freight car output is exported, predominantly to the Soviet Union. Until 1960, Poland produced and exported large numbers of steam locomotives, first to the USSR and later to the Peoples' Republic of China. Since 1961, however, it has been building mainly diesel and electric locomotives for domestic use.

Poland ranks twelfth in the world for shipbuilding. Among Communist countries it is second only to the Soviet Union. Output at Polish shipyards — confined mainly to three major yards at Gdynia, Gdansk, and Szczecin (Stettin) — almost quadrupled during 1955-66 (to 433,000 d.w.t.) and increased another 62% through 1972 (to 700,800 d.w.t.).

The rapid growth in shipbuilding capacity has enabled Poland to increase the size of its own merchant fleet to 2.2 million d.w.t. and to sell a considerable number of ships abroad. About 75% of Polish-manufactured ships are exported, mainly to the USSR. During 1960-70, the Soviet Union purchased 77% of total Polish exports of ships, representing an aggregate capacity of 2,331,000 d.w.t. The Poles now claim that every fifth ship in the Soviet nonmilitary fleet is Polish-built. In 1971, the number of ships delivered to the USSR dropped sharply, while sales to the industrial West ― which had been negligible ― totaled 229,000 d.w.t., of which 119,000 d.w.t. went to Norway and 64,000 d.w.t. went to West Germany.

Polish shipyards build and export a variety of small- to medium-class ships, including ore and coal carriers, tramps, coasters, general cargo, timber carriers, tankers, cutters, factory trawlers, training ships, and scientific-research vessels. So far, the largest ship launched is a 55,000-ton general cargo vessel. The Gdynia shipyard started construction of a 105,000-ton vessel in 1972 and has begun preparations to build a larger building dock, where 200,000-ton and 400,000-ton vessels are eventually to be built.

Poland has a small but rapidly expanding motor vehicle industry. In 1971, the industry manufactured 90,000 passenger cars, 49,600 trucks, 9,900 buses, 41,200 tractors, and 176,600 motorcycles and motor scooters.

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070030-5