Ch. 2: Platinum in 1919

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	12	MINERAL RESOURCES, 1919—PART I.

	EXPORTS. Exports of platinum reported by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in 1919 were 522 ounces of unmanufactured platinum, valued at $75,066, and manufactures of platinum to the value of $54,529. CONSUMPTION. Two methods of calculating the consumption of platinum in the United States are available. One, followed in the report for 1918, is the tabulation of information supplied by dealers and refiners. The following table, giving the results of this method for the years 1918 and 1919, is of particular value, as it shows the consumption by industries.



	This table shows that whereas during the war the essential industries, chemical, electrical, and dental, used 83 per cent of the platinum metals consumed, in 1919 they used only 40 per cent; on the other hand, the jewelry industry, which in 1918 was permitted to use only 12 per cent of the supply, in 1919 consumed 56 per cent. It is believed that the figures for consumption in 1919 are more nearly normal and give a fair measure of the platinum industry under ordinary conditions, though it is probable that the consumption by jewelers was a little above the average. The second method of computing the apparent consumption is given in the following table. This is the first year in which the data necessary for such a table have been available. It will be noted that several assumptions must be made, as the statistics of imports and exports of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce are not susceptible of exact interpretation as to the character of materials imported, and in some items quantities are not given.

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