HG.
Material for the Conference with Goering on 25 Nov 1938 (General Keitel, Brig. Gen. Thomas)
27 Oct 1938
W.Wi Id.
For the consideration of the assignment of tasks to people, state and the Armed Forces, judging of the requirements of raw materials, especially steel, appears necessary.
This is shown as follows, as far as it can be judged from here. The inclosed summary shows that one must count, according to the Fuehrer's directives, on a steel requirement for armament production, which amounts to 1.08 million tons monthly from 1 Jan 1939 on, that is, it must be increased by about 48% of the present contingent. Added to this requirement are the increased demands of the Four Years' Plan, the demands of export and the amount necessary for the upkeep of the production machine of German economy in the amount of 1.83 million tons monthly from 1 Jan 1939 on; thus this results in a total requirement of 2.9 million tons monthly from 1 Jan 1939 on, against which there is only a monthly production of at present 1.8 million tons monthly.
Furthermore, it must be pointed out, that with the increased use of steel, an increased use of the already scarce non-ferrous metals is necessarily coupled; the latter also are closely associated with the procurement of foreign exchange.
The increased rearmament of the armed forces must further affect deeply the supply requirements of the armed forces, especially munitions and fuels. Therefore, it must be expected that the future requirements of the armed forces will exceed the present plans (accelerated program for powder and explosives, fuel program), which will have an increase of the steel requirements not yet planned as result.
Secret