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EMD-81-134 1 (1981-09-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabcjv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: IIV.3-IO UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 ENERGY AND MINERALS DIVISION B-204416 SEPTEMBER 15,1981 The Honorable Caspar W. Weinberger The Secretary of Defense The Honorable Malcolm Baldrige The Secretary of Commerce 116340 Subject: Potential Impediment of Foundry Capacity Relative to National Defense Needs (EMD-81-134) We are writing this letter based on our concern over the realization of defense policy objectives. The cause for this concern is the potential impediment of foundry capacity relative to national defense needs, a possible problem heightened by contemplated increases in defense expenditures. The number of domestic foundries has been steadily declining for two decades. Since 1957, at least 1,479 have closed, most of them of a relatively small size. Though it appears this his- torical trend has not had a significant impact on total foundry capacity, recent closures of large automotive foundries could have different, adverse repercussions. Auto foundry closures reduced domestic casting capacity by over 1 million tons in just one year, 1980. This 1-year tonnage loss equates to about 5 percent of foundry shipping capacity of all metals, and most of this recently closed capacity is slated for disposal or disman- tling. Some of these closed foundries have been used in the past for defense production purposes, and if similar foundry closures continue, we believe the Nation's production capacity for defense or emergency mobilization may be impaired. Serious data deficiencies prevent an in-depth analysis at this time. Our review work identified and analyzed Federal Government and private data banks on the foundries. No permanent foundry data files were found in the Department of Commerce's Office of Basic Industries which has responsibility for monitor- ing and analyzing the foundry industry. Because Federal data was found to be very poor, overly aggregated, and in a number of important cases either wrong or missing, we developed a data base using a combination of Federal and private industry data. (008433)

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