Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1899-05-04
THE PIG.IRON PROBLEM.
An English View Of the Progress Of
America

! Iplg-lrOn problem the LOndOn OIaCls
Gays:
1.-The great pressure for steel plates
: and structural iron and steel generally
is the main cause of the great pressur
on iron smelters, and the scarcity Q
! pig.iro is the cause of the short sur
ply of finished material. 1t is becom
ing more and more obvious to he trad
J generally that it the present deman'
for iron and steel is sustain. d-with
out even being increased-the question
we asked a year ago. will there be
lpig-iron famine p will be answered il
the affirmative within six months
There is, of course. the possibility O
the demand subsiding tn re il
for the moment. at any rate, a distinc
pause in the booking Of new vessels
and in some other trades in which
iron is consumed-bu there is littl'
hope of relief from America within thai
period When we wrote year age
American pig-iron was coming ovel
freely to US, and was being shipped tt
the Continent. and the output for 189s
was expected to reach $4,000, 900 tons
As matter of fact the output waf
only II, 774 900 tons, and was SO much
less than the consumption that the
stocks we're reduced to POI 900 tons, at
compared with 656, 900 tons at the enc
of 1897. And now, even though the
production has been increased since
January l, the export has practically
stopped, or rather, we should say that
the sales for export have practically
stopped, for it is true that in the two
months ending February % we i'm
ported from the United States s,149
tons Of pig iron. as against 16, 1856 tons
in the corresponding two months of
1897. But these shipments were in
completion Of sales made some time
ago, before the prospective scarcity of
America was being felt. The Ameri-
can consumption in 1898 is now seen to
have been about 10 ,250, 900 tons, which
is to say nearly half million tons
more than the production. BY SO much,
therefore, must the output of 1899 ex-
ceed that Of 1898. without absorbing
every ton of stock, even if the con-
sumption does not increase. But the
consumption has increased and is in
creasing, so that even if the output
should reach this year 4,000,00 tons,
which is predicted. there will be little
or any margin for export. Whatever
there is will be in the second
half, not the first half, of the year; so
that the critical period will be within
the next six months"
The Statist comedies that under ex-
istlng conditions hardly any material
increase in the English output of pig
iron can be possible within the next
few months. and adds:
whilst the American supply will be
wanting this year, and. there
fore, our imports of pigs will be good
deal smaller than last year, the exports
will be greater, because the Continent
will have to come to us to make up
some of the falling off in the Ameri-
can supply. Our exports have already
begun to increase, and were 81 .553 tons
in February, as compared with So, ,553
tons in February. 1898. If, then, home
consumption and exports reached o.
600, 900 tons in 1898, the total this year
is not unlikely to be 100000 tons. If
so, that means the absorption Of every
ton of stock in the country, and more
also. In other words-famine.
''Of course, there remains the ques-
tion of increasing the output, and no
doubt more furnaces can be blown in.
But many more will not be blown in
unless pig iron rises to famine prices,
because most of them are of such an
tique type that they cannot be worked
at profit on anything like present
range OF prices. There are 5O3reputed
furnaces in the kingdom, of which $50
were in blast during 1898. 1t is ex-
tremely doubtful how many of the re-
naming 213 are fit to use again at all;
it is probable that the majority of them
could not be worked at a profit unless
pig iron rose another pound per ton or
so; it is certain that very few more can
be blown in, whatever the price, until
fuller supplies Of iron ore are assured.
We do not forget that some new fur
naces, perhaps dozen in all, are being
built of modern type. 1t does not fol-
low, however, that these will be put
into blast in addition to those already
blowing, but rather that they will take
the place of others getting worn out,
And as regards the supply of ore for
any additional furnaces there may be
available, there is the ominous state
ment from the United States that the
increased output of pig-iron there will
necessitate the importing of ores this
year-doubtless from Spain and Cana
da. Yet the production of iron ore in
the United States has increased skiold
within twenty years, and is now about
"a, ,OcO,0 tons. The prospect is in
deed serious if the supply of American
ore is now insufficient for the needs O.
American smelters, for though thero
are enormous reserve supplies of ore
on the American continent, the value
of the deposits depends on their pro-
ximity to coal.
From the national point of view, it
is not agreeable to find that whilst
twenty years ago we produced so per
cent. of the worlds pig-iron, we now
furnish less than 25 per cent. America
has taken the lead since 1890, and will
| easily keep it,
In this connection should be read the
following from the London Iron and
local Trades Review:
"Less than six months agoit appear
ed to be probable that we were likely
Ito he Inundated with imDt rtS of for