Raw material production



Introduction

Raw materials is the foundation of all production. Even though a country may have a lot of money, this won't help if it is unable to purchase anything useful for it. Many people make the mistake, when judging priorities of equipment, largely disregarding wheter it would in fact be possible to manufacture the goods. For example, an army may have a large amount of advanced fighters, and highly trained pilots, but without fuel, this will matter little.

1940 oil production
German oil production in 1940
Various raw materials, 1939-1944
Production of steel, aluminium, coal and synthetic oil from 1939 to 1944

1940 oil production

List of the production of oil in Germany in 1940, by source
Source Barrels per month (approximately) (one barrel = 200 l.)
Germany 750,000 (6.9%)
Austria 850,000 (7,9%)
Poland and Czechoslovakia 550,000 (5.1%)
Romania 2,500,000 (23.1%)
Hungary 900,000 (8.3%)
Synthetic oil (all countries) 4,250,000 (39.4%)
Other sources (all countries) 1,000,000 (9.3%)
Total amount 10,800,000 (100.0%)

Various raw materials, 1939-1944

List of the German production of steel, aluminium, coal and synthetic oil from 1939 to 1944 (in million tons)
Year Steel Aluminium Coal Synthetic oil
1939 23.7 0.199 204.8 2.2
1940 21.5 (-9%) 0.211 (+6%) 247.9 (+21%) 3.1 (+41%)
1941 31.8 (+48%) 0.234 (+11%) 248.3 (+0.1%) 4.1 (+32%)
1942 32.1 (+1%) 0.264 (+13%) 264.2 (+6%) 4.9 (+20%)
1943 34.6 (+8%) 0.250 (-5%) 268.9 (+2%) 5.7 (+16%)
1944 28.5 (-18%) 0.245 (-2%) 249.0 (-7%) 3.8 (-33%)

All contents written by Christian Ankerstjerne unless stated otherwise