"(Chris Fulster of Broadway Bait, Rod and Gun in Sacramento CA) said
bullet (loaded rounds?) prices across the board have gone up at least 40
percent. "We were selling these things pretty cheap like $12 a box but
now they've gone up about $18 to $19 dollars a box," said Fulster. The
demand for ammunition is on the rise partly because of conflicts in the
Middle East. According to The Associated Press, U.S. soldiers are firing
more than one billion bullets a year in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, it
appears that the demand for copper, brass and lead overseas is fueling
the problem. "Lead went way (up), copper went way up, brass has gone way
up," said Fulster. "Commodity prices are just out of sight because so
much is being used in China and in India."
http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=31968
Some gun gossips are calling the AP story unpatriotic propaganda meant
to hurt US troops. Any probable cause for on-ground shortages outside of
the US is perhaps more like this 2005 Defense Technical Information
Center report suggests: "The data and analysis suggest that the
shortages in OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) were not a result of
inadequate supplies, but more likely a result of inadequate theater
distribution and asset visibility." No such ammo shortages affect
current in-theater operations; .223 and/or 5.56x45 ammunition may become
more costly but not necessarily scarce in the domestic market because
materials common to certain general components such as primers and cases
are more scarce due to: different war-related consumption rates (more
than twice the material per 5.56mm infantry round is expended by each
larger caliber round in 7.62mm and such high rates of fire existed in
Vietnam - one reason for a burst limit selection on current full-auto
weapons), that increased global materials demand (a recent blog blames
PRC toy production- a two-fer!), and more importantly, artificial
commodity shortages or financial capital manipulation since a similar
copper price rise and other materials shortages also occurred during the
Vietnam war. Ammo supplies are available on the open market from non-US
sources that use substitute commodities, for example, steel or aluminum
instead of brass cases. Official procurement for such ammo should use
the usual subcontracting and repackaging proxy routes recalling the
military's procurement debacle of substitute gunpowder for the first
version of the M-16 in Vietnam or since there are precedents, cops might
provide their own ammo if they want to qualify to use an AR-15/M16.
Ironic that Oklahoma City is used as an example.
So for example, in terms of copper supply and demand, this chronology is
useful to compare with the media treatment:
"During periods of tight supply, U.S. mills, most of which were
producer-owned subsidiaries, were given allocations assuring them of
reasonably priced supplies (Jolly,1991, p. 46). Although the producer
pricing provided stability for contract purchases, it created a
two-tiered price structure,where spot purchases and exchange prices were
significantly different from producer prices. During the peak demand
period of the Vietnam War, 1964-69, the average LME spot price was
$0.575 per pound, compared with only $0.38 for the domestic producer
price.Beginning with the nationalization of foreign production in Africa
and Chile in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, the US.producers’ influence on
domestic and world markets weakened, and domestic producer pricing
became more market sensitive, changing frequently to track global
prices.Periods of surplus supply, which occurred from the mid-1970’s to
the mid-1980’s also contributed to the decreased influence of U.S.
producer prices on world markets as surplus supplies flowed to the
exchanges."
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/copper/240798.pdf
Ann
--------
Subject:
Macro/Micro: 1 billion bullets a year for war... shortage for U.S police
departments
From:
The Buffalo In Da' Midst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date:
Sat, 25 Aug 2007 11:08:54 -0700
So much for 'Homeland Security'.
IF you consider the police organizations in the U.S. DO contribute to
real security of your home & 'the 'homeland', and are not merely an
armed wing… legal 'gang' if you will, of the burgeoning police state.
"In Oklahoma City, for example, officers cannot qualify with AR-15
rifles because the department does not have enough .223-caliber
ammunition - a round similar to that fired by the military's M-16 and
M4 rifles."
Ammunition Shortage Squeezes Police
Aug 17, 2:33 PM (ET)
By ESTES THOMPSON
Troops training for and fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are
firing more than 1 billion bullets a year, contributing to ammunition
shortages hitting police departments nationwide and preventing some
officers from training with the weapons they carry on patrol.
In full (with illustrative material):
http://leighm.net/wp/2007/08/25/policestateshortammo/
