which the Swedish government was a member, and production of iron-ore for export was fixed at 22,500,000 tons for the period 1907–1938. Iron mining in Sweden was not affected by the advent of war, production was maintained at 6–7 million tons throughout the war period. However, the destination of Sweden's exports of iron ore did change. The iron-ore fields of Gällivare, which in pre-war years produced on averaged 1,200,000 tons of iron-ore, most of which was shipped for export from the port of Luleå on the Baltic, could no longer export to the Allied countries and instead all of their produce went to Germany. In 1915 alone, Germany's demand for high-grade Swedish iron ore summed some 4 million tons. By contrast, the iron-ore fields of Kiruna, whose produced was exported through the Norwegian port of Narvik via the North Sea and the Atlantic, became overwhelmingly dominated by exports to the allies, with only 5% of exports going to Germany whereas German exports had previously constituted 70%. The Swedish ships that did continue carrying iron-ore from Narvik to Germany avoided the British blockade by hugging the Norwegian coast and remaining in Norwegian waters as much as possible. British imports of Swedish iron ore totalled 5–600,000 tons annually during the war, in comparison the entire British national stock of iron ore in June 1916 had been 253,000 tons, highlighting British reliance on Swedish iron-ore exports. The late war period Food shortages and downfall of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld As a result of food shortages caused by the Allied blockade on imports, the sinking of Swedish ships during the German U-boat campaign, and also a bad harvest, by January 1917 the Swedish government had begun rationing of bread, sugar, and flour. The American entry into World War I on the side of Allies in April 1917 greatly increased the pressure on Sweden to conclude an agreement on trade and shipping favourable to the Allied powers. One specific request was that the Swedish reduce their iron-ore exports to Germany in return for increased supplies of food from the Allies. Despite the food shortage, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld had continued to resist an agreement that might loosen the blockade in return for reducing exports to Germany due to fear of angering the Germans and being seen as favouring the Allies. Hammarskjöld had also come into conflict with his foreign minister Knut Wallenberg over a mooted trade agreement with Britain