STATUS AND POTENTIAL OF THE USSR CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600380269-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 269
• Publication Date: March 8, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Economic - Chemical industry
HOW
PUBLISHED Monthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED' Dusseldorf
DATE
PUBLISHED Dec 1950
LANGUAGE
CONFIDU lIAA.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
DATE DIST. Y Mar 1951
NO. OF PAGES 4
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
THIN DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION APFICTINS THE NATIONAL D[I[N[L
TN[ UXITLD 6TAT[f WITHIN TNl Y[ANIN/ OF Ll PIOMAS[ ACT 50
or
Y. 4. C., 31 AND IT. AN ANDROID. ITS TRAMSYISSION OR TNl RIVILATION
OF ITS COYT[NTI IN AMT YAMMER TO AN UNAUTHONIT[D PINION I3 PRO'
NISITLD ST LAW. REPRODUCTION OF III, FORM II PRONIEITEO.
Chemische Industrie, No 12, 1950.
STATUS AND POTENTIAL O(F THE USSR CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
STATUS OF THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
Reliable reports on the scope of USSR chemical production are rare. An
Chem-
interesting hch contribution
periodical Chemie-Ingenieur Technik, No 15, pe335.
istry,"
USSR chemical production in 1938 is estimated at 2.2 bbillion illion reichemarks,
in comparison with 82 billion reichsmarks 1.5 billion
for prewar ar Germany, 3 billion
reichemarks for Japan, 1.5 billion reichemarks for France, and 1.1 billion
reichemarks for Italy. Thus,the USSR was in fourth place.
For 1950, the current Five-Year Plan calls for a 50-percent increase in
chemical production over 1940 (in 1940 the value of chemical manufacture was sup-
pmarkks). If the plan is risen about thus ~inor to crease .to 4 billion
marks in 1950.
The following estimates are made regarding chemical production in the So-
viet bloc:
Production
(in million per 5r)
800
Soviet Zone Germany
Poland (including former German
400
275
Czechoslovakia
150
Hungary
70
r
10
Bulgaria
n
CONFIDENTIAL
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The 1949 potential of the USSR and its European satellites (except Yugo-
slavia), was only one quarter as great as that of the UI. This comparison 1n-
however, is made only on the basis of value of production which does
dicate the kind of product or the capabilities of the industry. If produc-
in appears
the two to
tion
of a products coonents,
produceed here
the types individual
ountties
sbroken d e in into
mental differenc
The US chemical production is made up, to a considerable extent, of items
which are permitted to :e manufactured esoonly on a very small nlyeonca and perfumes. scale intEasterne
Europe; among these are many types
also other important products, such as medicines, synthetic fibers, lacquers,
and textile chemicals, which run into the millions in US production statistics
but which have only minor significance in the USSR.
In the USSR, production is directed mainly from a military standpoint;
that is, only those products which have some use in the military economy are
emphasized. One can, therefore, observe a forced expansion of key products,
such as sulfuric acid, nitrogen, and soda, while at the same time there is ne-
glect of those products which are for daily use. This tendency is pointed out
in the following table, in which USSR chemical production is compared with that
of the US.
Production (in 1,000 mt)
USSR (Estimated)
us
1949
1938
1949
id (100%)
i
500
1
2,500
5,800
9,900
2
c ac
Sulfur
Soda
,
530
720
310
2,300
50
3,55
2,403
Caustic soda
N)
130
150
350
1304
1,083
Nitrogen (in terms of
200
272
Calcium carbide
100
400
8
220
Synthetic rubber
5
720
Plastics
14
30
4
90
coal-tar dyes
35
40
5
From a simple comparison of figures, the actual achievement of the USSR
chemical industry is not clearly evident, because one must take into consideration
that the basic chemical industry was largely destroyed during the last war. The
reconstruction of these plants was completed for the most part by the end of 1948,
and since then there has been a feverish expansion, especially in the eastern parts
of the USSR, which far exceeded the construction increase in Britain and can
only be compared with the development in the US.
The production figures given in the preceding table have been considerably
exceeded this year. Sulfuric acid production for 1950 can be assumed to have been
2.8.- 3 million tons. Also, 800,000 tons of soda were to have been produced, and
390,000 tons of caustic soda. There is no reason to doubt that this plan was ful-
filled completely.
The production of sulfuric acid will probably show an even more impressive
percentage increase in the coming years, because the demand cannot yet be met, and
imports from foreign countries cannot be counted on.
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Raw material for sulfuric acid output is adequate. There are enough iron
and copper pyrites available to make possible the production of 10 million tons
per year of sulfuric acid. Incidentally, a development of this kind was antici-
pated in the Third Five-Year Plan, interrupted by World War II, which ordered the
production of 8 million tons of sulfuric acid in 1942.
The fulfillment of this plan would not have succeeded during normal peace-
time development, because of transportation difficulties. Many production plants
were located in the Ukraine and in the areas around Moscow and Leningrad, and were
1,500-2,000 kilometers away from pyrite sources in the Urals. This difficulty has
now been overcome since the main factories have been concentrated to the east and
west cf the Urals. Other plants are located in Siberia, in Belovo, and Kemerovo.
The demand for soda at this time amounts to approximately 1.6 million tons
and can be met only 50 percent by domestic production. A faster rate of expan-
sion was not possible because the entire USSR soda industry was concentrated
in four factories, of which the three located in the Ukraine, which accounted for
two-thirds of the total capacity at that time, were destroyed during the war.
These Ukraine factories have been entirely reconstructed, and the fourth plant,
in Berezniki in the Urals, has been greatly enlarged during the postwar years.
In the meantime,. another soda factory has been built in the Urals, so that in the
coming year a substantial production increase can be counted upon.
The nitrogen industry suffered heavy war damage. The factories in Dneprod-
zerzhinsk and Gorlovka in the Ukraine and in Stalinogorek in Tula Oblast sic, in
Moscow Oblast were extensively damaged. These plants are once more operating
at full capacity. Still more important are the nitrogen factories in Magnito-
gorsk in the Urals, those in Kemerovo in West Siberia, and the combine on the
Chirchik River in Uzbekistan. The 1949 production of approximately 350,000 tons
of pure nitrogen is supposed to be topped by several percent in 1950, so that
the USSR stands second today among the nations of the world in the output of ni-
trogen.
Furthermore, great efforts have been made by the USSR in the fields of syn-
thetic rubber and the hydrogenation of coal. In 1950, 250,000 tons of synthetic
rubber are to be manufactured, and during 1951, 300,000 tons are to be produced.
German scientists and technicians are taking part in the further development of
synthetic rubber.
Synthetic motor fuels made from coal were not manufactured in the USSR be-
fore the last war. Since then a synthetic fuels industry has been started, with
the help of factories dismantled in East Germany and with German technical. as-
sistance. The town of Cheremkovo, east of Lake Baykal in Siberia, is an important
production center. During 1950, 900,000 tons of synthetic fuels are supposed to
be produced from coal and slate.
Synthetic motor fuels from coal are rated as of the utmost significance in
the USSR, as the petroleum situation is rather tight. This is brought out by the
fact that the petroleum yield this year can be raised to only 35 million tons,
despite the greatest efforts. In 1940, it was 31 million tons. The reason for
this is the slow exhaustion of the Caucasian oil fields. There are other petro-
leum centers, such as the so-called "Second Baku" at the southern end of the
Urals, and the oil district along the Ukhta River in the Pechora Babin above the
Arctic Circle. Despite the new fields, considerable increases in the petroleum
yield are not likely.
On the other hand, the USSR possesses enormous natural gas reserves, alleg-
edly the world's richest. Following the US example, the USSR plans to use nat-
ural gas on a large scale in the manufacture of chemicals. The plan calls for
an output of 8.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 1950. The chemical in-
dustry based on petroleum is also being given a great deal of attention. It is
concentrated mainly in the Baku district, as the oil there is supposed to be
r, PM", "r9FNTI,L(
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CONFIDENTIAL
especially suitable for such purposes. Already, aliphatic chemicals are being
produced on a large scale, using refinery gases as a base, and aromatic chemicals
are being manufactured on the same basis in increasing quantities.
Besides petroleum, shale oil, natural gas, and ores, the Soviet Union also
has more than enough coal and electric power for further major expansion of'the
chemical industry. Appruximately one fifth of the world's coal reserves are sup-
posed to be located in the USSR. The largest part is in the Asiatic areas. More.
than half the demand is still being filleC from European USSR, but this percentage
is steadily decreasing. This alone would explain the USSR's industrial shift to
Asiatic areas.
Coal mining in the USSR has risen from 166 million tons in 1940 to approxi-
mately 250 million tons in 1950. Coke production has also increased, from 21
million tons in 1940 to about 30 million tons in 1950. Great emphasis is being.
placed now on coke by-products, because of the yield of benzene and toluene.
it is estimated that 200,000 tons of ammonium sulfate, 270,000 tons of crude ben-
zene, and 78,000 tons of toluene were produced in 1949.
CON?IDBHTIAL
DONIDENTIAt
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