Word: rfc
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...impelling needs of defense last week drove the U.S. Government into the aluminum business. Jesse Jones's RFC arranged to put up $250,000,000 for new aluminum plants. They will be owned by the Government, operated by three private companies (Aluminum Co. of America, Reynolds Metals Co., Bohn Aluminum & Brass Corp...
Reason was that all concerned, having badly under-guessed aluminum requirements (TIME, May 26), now recognized that what had been done before was not enough. RFC had already put up money for Reynolds to build two plants in competition with Alcoa. Its near-monopoly gone or going, Alcoa depended heavily on Government electricity from TVA and Bonneville Dam for additional new plants of its own. Resultant U.S. capacity (by 1943): 700,000 tons a year, probably not enough for military needs, let alone civilian and semimilitary requirements...
What made additional aluminum capacity absolutely necessary was a decision to expand big-bomber production. RFC last week set aside $350,000,000 to finance new bomber plants. Unless these plants have aluminum, they cannot make bombers. At the belated best, Mr. Jones's Government-owned aluminum plants may be operating by late 1942 (if they can be rapidly tooled, if sufficient power can be found, if enough bauxite-now mostly imported by Alcoa from Surinam-is at hand...
Witness Reynolds told how he got RFC to make his company a loan to build two new plants (now nearly completed) which will have a capacity of 60,000 tons of primary aluminum per year and give Alcoa its first substantial competition. He also told how he arranged to buy Government power from TVA in Alabama and Bonneville Dam on the Pacific Coast (as Alcoa has now done). Alabama's Senator Lister Hill then asked: ". . . Did you get any cooperation from the Defense Commission...
Since war began, U.S. aluminum capacity has risen from 160,000 to 425,000 tons annually. Even this is not enough. Last week, RFC's Metals Reserve Co. got aid from Britain by persuading Aluminum Co. of Canada (which had earmarked its whole output for Britain) to sell the U.S. $63,000,000 worth of aluminum. To fill the order, the company will spend $60,000,000 expanding its Quebec plants. Such increases in capacity, reinforced by competition, may some day make even 10? aluminum look expensive...