The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-07-12 00:00:00

THE IRON TRADE.
THE QUARTERLY MEETING.
WOLVERHAMPTON, Il'edneaday.

froutoasters, merchants, and consumers of
iron assembled in strong force at the Exchange
this afternoon, though, as it transpired, less for
the purpose of transacting business than with
the view of feeling the pulse of the market wit h
reference to the still greater meeting which will
be held in the Town Hall, Birmingh4n, to-
morrow. ('he prices of finished iron todittv
were pretty much as quoted last week, the basis
being .1:14 for marked bars. Second-class iron
was reported quite A s first as it was a fortnight
ago, except in a few special cases, anti is likely
to remain. It was stated on 'Change to-day that
a firm of brokers in the North of Englund were
quoting Earl Dudley's iron £1 per ton below
Messrs. Barrows' prices, but this is probably an
error. SS nothing of any change in the nominal
rates has been heard of in this district. Rim
iron for lock-making purposes is quoted 1 inch,
£l4; inch, £l4 ss; inch, £l4 lOs ; and a
£l4 15s at works. The local iron merchants
quote the following reductions of their list of ,
April 10th. viz. : marked bars, 40s. ; s. e. bars,
20s; and CULLIWOJI bars, 20s per ton, and other
iron in proportion. Messrs. Rogers, Sons and
Co., Wolverhampton, quote bars £l4 to £l4 15s
delivered in London; nail rods ditto, £l4 to
£l4 lOs ; ditto Brourford, £l4 Is; hoops, £l4
58 to £l4 108 ; sheets (ordinary), £l5 10s to £l6
106 ; galvanized corrugated ditto, £23; with Is
to 7s 6d reduction if delivered in Liverpool.
! Canada plates (Staffordshire) are quoted £23 per
! too, delivered iu Liverpool. The Lilleshall
Company quoted £7 to £lB per ton for hot and
cold blast pig respectively, being a reduction of
£1 per tort on last quarter's prices. Mr. B.
Bayliss, of Wokiugtou, showed a model of all
apparatus for melting, refining, and puddling
iron by one process. The inventor claims that
by the invention a ccusiderable saving of fuel
may be effected. Messrs. Caddick and tierhard,
of Bilsiou, exhibited specimens of a new cow•
pound of hematite ore, tar, lime, Xc., baked into
a cake, by which it is said excellent iron nutty
be obtained, without the use of pig iron or the
operation of puddling. A company is to be
formed to introduce and develop the invention,
which seemed to attract a good deal of attention
amongst the ironumsters on 'Change. Coal
remains unchanged in price, except in the case
of one or two small firms at Bloxwich, who are
quoting 2s to 3s per ton lower.

BIRMINGHAM, Thursday.

The quarterly meeting of ironmasters and
colliery proprietors of South Staffordshire and
district Was heel in the Exchange to-day. the
Town Hall not being at liberty on account of
the preparations for the ensuing festival. The
attendance was a very large one, and some of the
most extensive buyers from all parts of the
country were represented. The meeting at
Wolverhampton on the previous day had been
marked by signs that could not be mistaken, of
no great alteration in existing prices, and to-day
fully proved the truth of the conclusions drawn
by many buyers that no great change would
ensue. The transectiona iu general were not
very great, but still some good specifications
were accepted. Prices for best iron ruled firm
on the £l4 basis for marked bars, and £l6 for
sheets. There was every disposition on the part
of makers to enter freely into contracts on these
terms, but buyers held off persistently, demand-
ing a reduction of these quotations, which are
some £2 or £3 below last quarter day's list.
A greet contrariness appeared to govern the
market after business had once fairly commenced
and the most conflicting seatemeuts were wade
as to the real prices at which iron could be ob-
tained for the ensuing quarter. This state of
things was fureher complicated by the appar-
ently low rates at which unmarked iron was
offered. Bars were pushed forward at from £l2,
and hoops could be had at ..{:l3 10s. The result
was the closing of a large number of berg iius
for small lots of inferior makes. '1 his iron does
not suit the makers of best work, and so no
large contracts were closed. The detailed list
for the various descriptions of finished iron, it
is unnecessary to give, as they were the same
as at the Wolverhampton meeting. There was
more animation in tile dealing for pig iron,
which, of course, was the ell-important business
of time day. Ilot-blast native all-mine was sold
at from £7 to £7 Is, and cold-blast realised £B.
This Was 110 t so low as many expected, but still
there was no lack of customers at these figures.
this was more than ever the case, when it was
known that colliery owners would not enter into
contracts to run to Christmas. this entirely
upsets the calculation that a general reduction
is about to occur in coal, which has ruled the
market so long. It would seem rather as if
owners of mines were determined to quote
higher than ever during the ensuing autumn.
Ores were in good demand at late quoLations.