When in 1914, at the beginning of the war, the price of chromite increased, production was immediately stimulated, this being shown by the rapid increase in output from 591 long tons of crude ore in 1914 to about 82,350 long tons of crude ore in 1918, equivalent to about 66,554 tons of ore on the basis of 50 per cent. chromic oxide. Even this largely increased domestic output, however, filled only little more than one-half of the American requirements, the total amount of chrome ore consumed in 1918 being about 104,000 long tons on the basis of 50 per cent. chromic oxide. Had the market for chromite kept up, however, the domestic mines would have supplied a much larger proportion of the requirements in 1919. The consumption of chromite in the United States in 1913 amounted to 65,000 tons of ore containing 50 per cent. chromic oxide. From this it rose to about 127,000 tons in 1917, which represents the maximum annual consumption thus far. The following table shows the production and imports of chromite on the basis of 50 per cent. chromic oxide, from 1913 to 1918, as well as the total quantity available for consumption for these years. No chromite is exported from the United States. TABLE 26.--PRODUCTION AND IMPORTS OF CHROMITE, UNITED STATES, 1913-1918 ----+-----------+-----------+--------------- | | |Total available |Production | Imports |for consumption |(long tons)|(long tons)| (long tons) ----+-----------+-----------+--------------- 1913| 230 | 65,180 | 65,410 1914| 530 | 74,578 | 75,108 1915| 2,756 | 73,762 | 76,318 1916| 39,509 | 110,849 | 150,358 1917| 36,729 | 64,978 | 101,707 1918| 66,554 | 92,678 | 159,232 ----+-----------+-----------+--------------- The prices paid for domestic chromite in the United States in recent years ranged from an average of $11.19 per ton in 1913 to an average of about $24.00 per ton in 1917. When the need of increased shipping was felt in the latter part of 1917, steps were taken to reduce the imports of chromite from distant countries, such as Turkey, New Caledonia, and Rhodesia, to increase the imports from nearby sources such as Brazil, Cuba, and Canada, and to urge the maximum production from domestic mines. As a result, the imports of chromite from Brazil were 17,854 long tons of crude ore and from Cuba 8,821 long tons of crude ore in 1918. The only previous production in Cuba was 34 long tons in 1916 and 17 long tons in 1917. Brazil had no production before 1918. The imports from Canada amounted to 20,949 long tons of crude ore in 1918, as compared to 19,021 long tons of crude ore in 1917, and 12,220 long tons of crude ore in 1916. In order to reduce the importation of chromite from countries far overseas, various restrictions were put into effect by the War Trade Board in the early part of 1918.