Magnesium

Images source: WPB

Magnesium is used in alloys with aluminum for airplane body construction and in incendiary bombs, flares, and ammunition. Before WWII, Dow Chemical was the only significant American producer of magnesium and its production, about 4.5 million pounds per year, was very small compared to wartime needs. By comparison, Germany was producing 60% of world production. Unlike aluminum production, which used the Hall process, magnesium production was made by about 6 different processes, some of which were new to commercial production. Likewise, fabrication methods were more diverse than with aluminum. In 1939 domestic, French and British aircraft needs resulted in increased Dow production. Additionally, a govenment loan was provided to the Todd-California Shipbuilding Company (later absorbed by Permanente Metals) and other companies to construct a primary magnesium plant with a capacity of 24 million pounds per year at Permanente, CA, uing a process developed by Dr. Hansgirg, an Austrian scientist. Like other critical metals, magnesium was alo rationed, prioritized and allocated for wartime use. Capacity eventually reached 491 miilion pounds per year by January, 1944, while shipments of fabricated shapes reached a peak in April, 1942, of 432 million pounds. ^{WPB 62-63}