There are a number of deposits of sulphur in the Aleutian Islands (Alaska), probably containing considerable sulphur, but partially covered by glaciers and difficult of access. It is doubtful whether they could be developed in the face of the competition of the cheap sulphur from the coastal plain district of the United States.
CHANGES IN PRACTICE
No very far-reaching changes in practice are likely to occur in the near future. The exhaustion of the surface sulphur deposits in Italy and the necessity for deep mining is making necessary improvement and installation of more modern methods there. Improved methods in the refining of sulphur are also being installed whereby the losses under the old calcarone method will be largely eliminated. The consumption of sulphur for sulphite wood pulp can be considerably reduced by the general utilization of the improved practice which is already used by the best plants. In localities where pyrite is available this material may be used in the pulp industry to replace sulphur. In case competition develops between the three large sulphur companies in the United States, and the price of sulphur is considerably reduced, it may result in the use of this material to a larger extent in the sulphuric-acid industry. The sulphur burners can be installed much more quickly and cheaply than the furnaces required to roast pyrite, and after once being installed the amount of labor and care required in their operation is less. The increased recovery of sulphuric acid as a by-product from copper and zinc smelters will probably represent an increasing factor in competition with acid made either from pyrite or sulphur. The further increase of this source in the United States is handicapped by the location of many of the copper smelters in the west, at long distances from the market for sulphuric acid, which is largely in the eastern and southern states. New processes are being experimented with, for the production of elementary sulphur from these sulphur fumes. If these are successful on a large scale, material from this source may supply any future markets located in the west, and might compete with the Japanese sulphur which has formerly been imported in our Pacific Coast States.
POLITICAL CONTROL OF SULPHUR AND PYRITE
The political control of the important sulphur deposits of the world primarily corresponds to the countries in which they are located. In the case of the United States, the deposits are controlled by private companies. As a strictly war measure, control was exercised over the allocation and distribution of the output. In Italy the government had assumed control of the output and marketing of sulphur. This was largely brought about by the competition of American sulphur and the consequent depression of the Italian industry. In 1906 what was known as the Consorzia Obbligatoria was organized under a law passed by the Italian Parliament, which provided that this company should be administered by a royal commissioner appointed by the Italian government. Under this law producers were obliged to sell their output to this company, which had control of prices and exports. In 1910 restrictions on the granting of new concessions were made. The arguments recently presented for the continuance of government control were the increasing foreign competition, the large war increase in United States production, the minor increase of Japanese production and the possibilities of developments in northern Africa. The intent of this governmental control of the industry is to combine and regulate the efforts of individual producers in order to effectively meet future competition.
COMMERCIAL CONTROL OF SULPHUR AND PYRITE
Before 1906 the Italian deposits were largely controlled by the Anglo-Sicilian Sulphur Co., representing English capital, but since that time, when the Italian government undertook to control the industry, the commercial control has been primarily Italian.
In the United States the commercial control of sulphur output is in the hands of three companies, one of which started producing just about the time of the outbreak of the European war and another whose production was just beginning in 1919. So far as is known, there is no combination among these three interests. The Union Sulphur Co., which was the first and principal producer, controls certain patents covering the “Frasch Process.” During the war period an agreement was entered into by which alleged infringement of patents was not pushed. Since the close of the war it remains to be seen to what extent the patent rights involved may affect the production of the other two companies, the Freeport and the Texas Gulf, which in general use a similar process.
The production of sulphur in Japan is commercially controlled by Japanese interests.
An American company, the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Co., owns a sulphur deposit in Mexico, which was leased, before the war, to German interests. Several other deposits in Mexico and South America were reported as controlled by German interests, but thus far the production from all these sources has been relatively of minor importance and there is no immediate prospect of any great change.