NVN IMPORTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
• Release Decision: RIFLIM
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: September 28, 2012
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: April 27, 1972
• Content Type: MEMO

No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
?IP
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
May 1, 1972
GENERAL HAIG
AL: This is an interesting pros-
pective which casts some doubt on the
earlier estimates that most of the
heavy equipment for the NVA comes
in by rail.
?
ON-FILE NSC RELEASE
INSTRUCTIONS APPLY-
USAF review completed.
MORI/CDF per
C05081605
MORI/CDF Pages 2 thru 5 per C05081605
No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
MEMORANDUM
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
6
INFORMATION
SECRET April 27, 1972
MEMORANDUM FOR:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
COLONEL KENNEDY
T. C. PINCKNEY-1a
NVN Imports
I was not satisfied with the recent CIA study of military aid
to NVN, especially the statement below the last chart that
most military imports come by rail, not by sea. Therefore,
I asked Air Staff Intelligence to do a short study on North
Vietnamese imports (attached).
Several points stand out:
???
Identified military aid sea cargo in 1971 was only
1,612 metric tons (twice the 1970 amount).
-- However, note the following categories.
portions of each may well be of military
mop
petroleum
metals/products
machinery/equipment
transportation equipment
? unidentified
other
There is no accurate rail import
confirmed-Sy the Agency to USAF.
390,200
143,300
31,200
14,300
546,800
166,400
Sizable
use:
tons
tons
tons
tons
tons
tons
data. This was
-- Rail amounts are strictly guesstimates.
-- The rough estimate for total 1971 rail imports
is 300,000 tons, about 1/7 the sea tonnage.
-- Military equipment import by rail is guessed
to be about 36,000 tons.
Thus, the guesstimated rail tonnage of military aid
is about 20 times the identified sea total, but only
a small fraction of the wilnidentified" and "other"
sea-shipped categories.
? Haiphong handles 93% of all sea-shipped cargo.
cc: Mr. Holdridge
Srollrm
No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
I.NO FREON DISSEM
21 APR 1972
1.1
w S EC Hi=
TALKING PAPER
on
NVN IMPORT TRADE - 1971/72
For the year 1971, seaborne imports to NVN totaled
a record high of 2,232,000 tons, representing an
18 percent increase over 1970 and eclipsing the.
record set in 1968 of 1,967,000 tons
OEM
North Vietnamese 1971 sea imports by commodity
(in Metric tons):
Food
615,700
Petroleum
390,200
Fertilizer.
329,000
General cargo:
Metals/Products
143,300
Machineey/equipment
31,200
Transportation equipment
14,300
Unidentified
546,800
Other
166,400
2 34) ?do
Identified mil aid cargo imported by sea was
1,612 tons - double the 1970 volume. While
much of the 546,000 tons of unidentified cargo
was probably rice and other foods, some arms
and ammo may have been included
NVN ports involved in seaborne import trade
received the following levels in 1971:
c
No Objection to Declassification in-C R r DOM
Full 2012/09/28 : LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
,:; PI"
No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-73ISSEM
lp-.Nur IMMVIII4 14111
1???
???? ???
2
Haiphong 2,086,000 tons (93%)
Cam Pha 6,000 tons (0.3%)
Hon Gai 15,000 tons (0.7%)
Vinh 125,000 tons (6%)
NVN's seaborne trade in 1972 is expected to exceed
1971's record performance
Preliminary data on seaborne imports to NVN during
the first quarter of 1972 are estimated as follows:
Commodity
January
February
March
Total
(Tons)
Food
70,300
65,400
52,200
187,900
Petroleum
58,000
61,300
33,500
152,800
Fertilizer
11,900
16,000
19,600
47,500
General cargo
58.900
64.900
67,B00
191,600
TOTAL
199,100
207,600
173,100
579,800
% Change
from Caw
parable
71 peria
Up 23%
Up 50%
Down 58%
Up 16%
Up 11%
The annual NVN import ratio between sea and estimated
rail tonnages is guesstimated to be about 7 to 1
There is no hard accurate or complete rail import
data to compare with relatively firm seaborne
import data; however, unpublished analyst-to-analyst
rough estimates for 1971 rail imports fall in the
area of about 300,000 tons
SECRETNo FOREIGN DISSEIA
No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
it4"1 Trdm" tin roncinN nissEm
No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7
?nr?
3
More than 65 percent of this estimated annual
volume is considered to be economic in nature.
Pressed to hazard a guess, one knowledgeable
CIA analyst produced the following breakout
for 1971 rail imports to NVN6A-)4-
- Coal 70,000 tons
POL 15,000 tons
- Vehicles 25,000 tons
- General 150,000 tons (includes
? construction
? materiel, rail
? equipment, food,
etc.)
Military equipment input via rail to NVN is estimated
to be about 3,000 tons per month or about 36,000
tons of arms and ammo annually
SECRETNO FOREIGN MEM
No Objection to Declassification in Full 2012/09/28: LOC-HAK-23-2-6-7