 Compounding the problems in the steel industry and their effects on the German economy as a whole was the prohibition against importing high-grade Swedish iron ore. Until that was lifted in 1948, German steel plants had to rely on low quality local ore which required almost twice the amount of coal to process.Moreover, the Germans were also forced to sell their steel at wartime prices until April 1, 1948, which meant large losses for the industry.Additionally, attempts to "decartelize" the German steel industry also contributed to the low output.