Aluminum Company of America

The Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) was a near-monopoly producer of the lightweight aluminum essential to wartime aircraft. Its inability to deliver what it claimed it could supply became part of a wider Senate investigation into defense production, which exposed both critical material shortages and arrangements that obstructed American production.\n## Wartime Supply and Shortages\nThe investigation found that aluminum, copper, zinc, and rubber were all in short supply. Even after severe cuts to civilian use, annual aluminum output reached only about half the amount needed to build planes. The Aluminum Company of America nevertheless maintained that it could meet both domestic and defense needs; in practice, it fell far short. Its dominant position in aluminum production made the discrepancy especially consequential as the country tried to expand aircraft manufacturing.\n## The Magnesium Arrangement\nThe investigation also uncovered an arrangement between the Aluminum Company of America and I.G. Farben, a major German firm. To protect its American aluminum market, the company had agreed to hold back magnesium production and sell the magnesium it owned to I.G. Farben at a reduced price. Magnesium production was already lagging even more severely than aluminum, and the result of the arrangement was stark: Germany had more magnesium than the United States.\n## Senate Scrutiny\nThe company’s conduct became a point of confrontation between the Senate investigators and industry. After the committee’s difficult dealings with the Aluminum Company of America, Harry S. Truman summed up its demand: “We want aluminum, not excuses.” The exchange reflected the committee’s broader approach: it sought specific facts about production failures and pressed companies whose conduct hampered defense supply. Its investigations did not always bring immediate changes, but the prospect of exposure itself could deter waste and mismanagement.