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elemental sulfur—primarily from Poland—provide the rest. About three-fourths of the total sulfur available is consumed in the manufacture of sulfuric acid.

Small quantities of mercury as well as gold and silver are produced, all byproducts in the treatment of other ores. Czechoslovakia is the largest producer of mercury among the Eastern European countries; prior to 1969, output of mercury was about 14 tons per year. Czechoslovakia has been dependent on imports mainly from Spain, to meet most of its domestic requirements for mercury. Completion of a new mercury refinery in late 1969 located at Rudnany boosted capacity to about 194 tons. This new capacity should reduce Czechoslovakia's dependence on imports. In recent years gold production, always small, has dropped to a negligible amount. Figure 6 shows production of selected minerals and metals.

a. Ferrous metallurgy

Czechoslovakia has the second largest iron and steel industry in the East European Communist area (excluding the U.S.S.R.) and the 11th largest in the world, ranking slightly behind Poland. In 1972, the industry produced about 8.4 million tons of pig iron, 12.7 million tons of crude steel, and 8.7 million tons of rolled products. With the exception of coking coal, the industry is dependent on imports for most of its raw materials. Measured reserves of iron amounted to about 100 million tons in 1971, but the iron content of the ores averages only 34%. The poor quality of the ores prompted a decision in the early 1960's to reduce domestic output in favor of greater reliance on imports. Annual production declined from 3.5 million tons in 1962 to 1.6 million tons during 1968-72 whereas imports of iron ore have been increased from 8.3 million tons in 1962 to about 13 million tons in 1972. The U.S.S.R. is the principal supplier, accounting for more than 80% of total imports. The U.S.S.R. also provides most of Czechoslovakia's large imports of pig iron, which totaled 800,000 tons in 1972. Domestic production of manganese ore has also declined in recent years and reportedly was discontinued in 1972. The U.S.S.R. regularly supplies about two-thirds of the manganese ore imported by Czechoslovakia. Apart from silicon, all the other ore and metals needed for alloying purposes are imported. Although Czechoslovakia produces a wide range of ferroalloys and exports selected types, it relies on imports for considerably more than half of its annual requirements for these materials.

Unlike others in Eastern Europe, the Czechoslovak steel industry has more than justified its dependence on imports. Long established as the leading exporter of finished steel in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia has continued to increase its exports in recent years, reaching an annual level of more than 3 million tons in 1972. Net exports in that year amounted to 2.4 million tons or about three-fourths of those of the U.S.S.R. Nearly half of the steel exported by Czechoslovakia in 1972 went to Western Europe, about a third to other Communist countries, and the remainder to a wide variety of other destinations, principally the developing countries. Most of the 680,000 tons of rolled steel imported in 1972 came from other Communist countries, primarily the U.S.S.R. Net exports of finished steel not only cover imports of all the raw materials, machinery, and replacement parts purchased abroad for the steel industry but yield substantial foreign exchange earnings as well.

In 1972, ferrous metallurgy accounted for 10.2% of total industrial production and employed 186,000 workers or 6.8% of the entire industrial labor force. In the period since 1960, ferrous metallurgy has maintained a steady average annual rate of growth of 5%, somewhat less than the 6% rate achieved by industry as a whole—attributable to a lower investment priority since 1966. As a share of total industrial investment, annual outlays for ferrous

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110014-8