The Post-War Commodity Boom (1946–1953)

Abstract

After 1945, nearly all colonial exports were in greater demand than ever before, and copper was no exception.¹ Contrary to expectations, the wartime demand for copper and other minerals persisted after 1945, and the anticipated post-war surpluses of commodities proved illusory. By spring 1946, the mining companies were gripped by a new optimism, and were planning for expansion in the belief that current demand would persist for another four to five years.² Among the reasons for this situation in the period immediately after the war were pent-up demand arising from wartime shortages, the disruption of world production by strikes, and the very high level of United States’ copper consumption, fuelled by the wartime expansion of industry, making the US a net importer of copper.³ Furthermore, because internal production could not satisfy US needs, Washington suspended the copper tariff in April 1947. Apart from a period between July 1950 and April 1951, the tariff remained suspended until July 1958.⁴ Additional demand came from the recovery of Europe, witnessed above all in rapid German reconstruction. Britain’s acute need to curtail dollar expenditure in the post-war period gave Northern Rhodesia a particular advantage. Metropolitan economic recovery depended on rebuilding Britain’s export markets, since overseas earnings were insufficient to underwrite imports.