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mary of the German position will respect to each of tile major alloys follows:
    Tungsten.-Portuguese output being expanded and going increasingly to Germany. Despite this
development and extensive substitution of molybdenum, the German stockpile is probably being
reduced, since the Russian war cut off the Chinese supply.
     Molybdenum.-Yugoslavia, Norway, French Morocco and other areas probably yield about
15% of world output to Germany. Extreme effort being made to expand Continental output.
Stockpile position probably better than for tungsten, but being slowly reduced.
    Nickel.- Perhaps most serious of all alloy shortages. Stockpile probably being reduced quickly:
Limited crisis may develop unless Petsarno mines can be set to work in Finland. This seems
unlikely in near future.
    Chrome - Conflicting evidence on amount of Balkan supply coming to Germany. Stockpile
probably being reduced, although full exploitation of Balkan resources might check trend.
    Cobalt.- Nccessary for both steel and hydrogenation. French Morocco only major source of
supply. Probably sufficient if freely exploited and transport made available.
    Vanadium - Probably sufficient supply to be drawn from steel slag and burnt oil residue.
    Manganese. - Ample supply, if Nikopol production successfully mined and transported from
Ukraine.
     4. It is impossible to evaluate precisely the net significance of the various shortages within the
German mineral supply position. There is no reliable evidence that either the quality or the
quantity of German military production has yet suffered in consequence of such shortages;
although it should be borne in mind that output could be maintained for a considerable period out
of stockpiles. Stockpiles are being reduced in the case of copper, tin, antimony, nickel, chrome,
and tungsten. The moment of their exhaustion can not be deduced from available evidence,
although crises have been predicted by the British in copper and chrome in the course of 1942.