522 MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1978-79 
 
Table 1.—Israel: Production of mineral commodities 
(Metric tons unless otherwise specified) 
Commodity' 1976 1977 lW78~ 1979 
METALS 
Iron and steel:e 
 Pigiron —_________ 
 Crudesteel___________________________________ 
NONMETALS 
 
40,000 
080,000 
40,000 
100,000 
40,000 
100,000 
40,000 
90,000 
20,900 
10,300 
1,999 
31,500 
20,350 
1,964 
34,550 
23,550 
1,996 
45,300 
40,000 
21,999 
70,000 
15,000 
10,000 
4,000 
200,000 
200,000 
~64,o00 
639 
680 
30,500 
 8,000 
5,500 
1,000 
200,000 
102,000 
68,500 
1,227 
707 
33,656 
6,952 
6,350 
11,450 
200,000 
124,000 
67,700 
1,725 
732 
40,000 
 8,150 
7,250 
8)000 
200,000 
118,000 
68,000 
2,160 
725 
86,561 
e100,000 
121,560 
127,000 
84,000 
4,500 
24,009 
83,500 
4,983 
26,836 
86,864 
3,705 
21,626 
85,000 
4,500 
24,500 
16,000 
13,000 
22,000 
 NA 
p24,000 
NA 
24,000 
 NA 
10,000 
208 
10,000 
 198 
10,000 
183 
10,000 
 195 
 2,055 2,010 2,016 2,000 
 20 20 20 18 
262 
6 
7,999 
4,521 
 6,375 6,515 6,700 
  5,619 5,663 5,900 
 1,893 
 13,136 8,012 6,555 7,000 
 20,014 28,944 31,594 30,000 
 262 NA NA NA 
 3,371 2,838 2,565 2,800 
 2,133 2,158 1,050 2,200 
 53,329 53,946 53,942 54,600 
 eRetimats. °Preliminary. TRe~,j~j. NA Not available. 
 
 11n addition to the commodities listed, Israel reportedly has the capacity
to produce 71 tons of U3O8 per year, but official data are not reported and
available information is inadequate to make reliable estimates of output
levels. 
2Reported figure. 
 
 
TRADE 
 
 
Bromine: 
 Elemental___________________________________ 
Compounds                                   
Cement, hydraulic thousand tons_ - 
Clays: 
 Flintclay___..______________________________ 
 Metabentonite                                 
 Kaolin —____________ 
Other _~___________________________________ 
Gypsum_______________________________________ 
Lime                                    
Nitrogen:Ncontentofammonia______________________ 
Phosphate rock, beneficiated thousand ton&. - 
Potash, K2oequivalent                        
Salt, marketed (mainly marine)  
Sand: 
 Glasssai,d          
 Other (for building industry) - - __thousand cubic meters_ Sodiumandpotassiumcompounds:
Causticsoda___________ 
Stone: 
 Dimension,marble_____________________________ 
 Crushed. thousand cubic meters_ - 
Sulfur: 
Byproductfrom petroleum________________________ 
 Sulfuricatid thousand tons__ 
MINERAL FUELS AND RELATED MATERIALS 
Gas, natural, marketed million cubic feeL - 
Peate thousand tons__ 
Petroleum: 
 Crude: 
From Israel proper - - - - thousand 42-gallon barrels_ From occupied Sinai
Peninsula             
 
Refineryproducts: 
 Gasoline do~_ 
Jet fuel                             
 Kerosine do____ 
 Distillatefueloil_ do___ 
Residual fuel oil                        
 Lubricants  do_ 
 Other  do____ 
Refmeryfuelandlosses                  
 
Total                              
 198 177 151 
 — — 6,200 10,800 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The value of Israel's mineral exports grew significantly in 1978 and 1979.
Major mineral exports included phosphate rock, potash, bromine, bromine compounds,
calcined and sintered magnesia, and manufactured fertilizers. Mineral industry
exports, excluding petroleum and petroleum products, were valued at over
$150 million2 in 1979. 
 The Israeli diamond industry continued to be a significant factor in the
value of Israel's total trade. Exports of polished diamond totaled $1.3 billion
in 1978 and were estimated at $1 billion in 1979. Im 
ports of rough stones were valued at $L03 billion in 1978 and were estimated
at $850 million in 1979. Major importers of polished diamond from Israel
were the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, BelgiumLuxembourg, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, and the Federal Republic of Germany. 
 Israel's materials trade balance continued to be highly unfavorable despite
a 25% increase in the value of exports in 1978 and an increase of nearly
16% in 1979. Excluding defense imports, increased imports of consumer goods
and the significant increase in the cost of crude petroleum on the