Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1944, Europe, Volume IV

740.00112 European War 1939/10148

The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs to the American Legation in Sweden ²²

Memorandum

I. The Anglo-Swedish War Trade Agreement of 1939 does not give any specific ceiling for the iron ore exports. Consequently the iron ore exports are governed by the general rule of “normal trade” as laid down in the 1939 agreement.

Paragraph II of the Swedish Declaration of the 7th of December, 1939, states:

“In order to ascertain whether exports are to be classified as falling within the conception of normal trade, the figures of quantities contained in the Swedish trade statistics for the year 1938 will be treated as standard.”

Further Section F of the Instructions to the Joint Standing Commission of the same date stipulates that:

“For the purposes of these presents the term ‘Germany’ shall include—

(a) the territory of the German Reich;

(b) any territory for the time being under German occupation or control;

(c) the territory of any country which may be allied to Germany or at war with the United Kingdom, including territory under that country’s occupation or control.”

The figures for the export of iron ore in 1938 to Germany as defined above are as follows:

		metric tons
To	Norway	2,112
	Poland	126,862
	Germany	8,945,088
	Holland	220,939
	Belgium	555,494
	France	76,306
	Czechoslovakia	798,150
	Hungary	11,640
	Other countries (Denmark, Danzig etc.)	Insignificant
	Total	10,736,591

On the basis of a strict interpretation of the 1939 agreement Sweden could therefore claim a “normal trade” figure for iron ore of 10.7 million tons. In 1943 the corresponding figures were:

		metric tons
To	Norway	23,087
	Germany	10,085,817
	Holland	18,970
	Belgium	64
	Hungary	74,841
	Denmark	5,880
	Finland	33,032
	Total	10,241,691

It could therefore be claimed that the Swedish exports of iron ore in 1943 were 494,900 tons less than the normal trade ceiling.

It is only fair, however, to point out that always since the conclusion of the 1939 agreement the figure for the ceiling of Swedish iron ore exports to Germany has been spoken of as being 10 million tons. This round figure has in fact during all the war-time discussions and especially during the London negotiations of May–June 1943 been mentioned as the agreed limit of Swedish iron ore exports to Germany. The explanation of this rather arbitrary figure seems to be that at the time of the conclusion of the 1939 agreement “Germany” included Poland and Czechoslovakia i.a. and not the other countries which have since then become occupied or allied territories. The foregoing table shows that the total of the iron ore exports in 1938 to Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia was 9.9 million tons or about 10 million tons. Therefore the round figure of 10 million tons has been adopted as a standard figure.

While the Swedish Government do not intend to urge on the strict interpretation of the agreement of 1939, which would mean a normal trade limit of 10.7 million tons, as compared with the corresponding exports of 10.2 million tons in 1943, it seems fair that the standard limit of 10 million tons should be applied in respect of the iron ore exports to Germany, including Poland and Czechoslovakia according to the statistics now established. The exports to these countries in 1943 amounted to 10,085,817 tons. There is therefore a quantity of about 86,000 tons in excess of the standard ceiling of 10 million tons.

The Swedish Government propose to carry over to 1944 the exact surplus over and above 10 million metric tons, thereby reducing the 1944 ceiling of 7.5 million tons by that same amount.

II. The most important single factor in connexion with the rising trend of the Swedish iron ore exports during 1943 has been the increased shipments via Narvik, which is outside Swedish control. In fact, the Narvik shipments have increased with about 70 percent as compared with 1942.

As to the Baltic ports the climatic conditions prevailing during the year have been remarkably favourable for the operation of the traffic. Thus, the port of Lulea was opened about one month earlier than usual. In addition thereto the shipping in the Baltic was not during the summer of 1943 hampered in the same way as during 1942 when the Swedish authorities were obliged to arrange for a convoy system.

The Swedish Government have during the last six months of 1943 followed the developments of the iron ore export situation with the closest attention. In connexion with the deliveries to Germany the following facts have been of particular interest. The transports on the Luleå–Narvik railway have been considerably reduced on account of extensive repairs which were undertaken in the course of the autumn 1943. The port of Luleå was closed on the 12th of December or about two weeks earlier than justified by prevailing climatic conditions. The capacity of the ports in the middle of Sweden in respect of iron ore shipments has been reduced owing to a limitation of the labour in the respective ports. This reduction has been particularly noticeable in respect of the port of Oxelösund.

An estimate made by the Swedish authorities on the 1st of December, 1943, showed that in view of the above-mentioned circumstances the exports would be below the 10 million tons limit. The estimate proved good with regard to all ports except Narvik, which is outside Swedish control. In respect of Oxelösund the quantity exported has been less than was expected. On the other hand the exports via Narvik exceeded the estimate with about 90,000 tons, a large portion of which was shipped during the last days of the year owing to an unexpectedly large number of German ships having arrived there.

III. The Swedish-German Trade Agreement for 1944 stipulates a quota for the iron ore exports of 7 million metric tons with an additional margin of 100,000 tons. In addition to the exports to Germany some small exports will take place to Finland, Norway, Hungary, Belgium and Holland, the total figure being within the total ceiling indicated in the Swedish Declaration of 1943.

In addition the Swedish-German Trade Agreement for 1944 has been formulated in order to ensure the special stipulation in Section VI (a) of the Swedish Declaration of 1943.

It will be seen from the above that the Swedish Government have taken all steps necessary to implement the stipulations of the London Declarations regarding exports in 1944.

Stockholm , 22 January 1944.

22. Copy transmitted to the Department in despatch 2728, January 25, from Stockholm; received February 10. Copy of memorandum was also given to the British Legation in Sweden.