The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-08-10
TO RESTRICT PRODUCTION
MANY IRON FURNACES WILL BE
BLOWN OUT BY SEPT. L.
VIII Not Resume Until the Demand
lmprOves-ExpOrts of Steel Man.
ufacturcs Increasing.

NEW YORK, Aug. 9.--'The only effective
remedies to restore the iron industry to
normal and sound condition are now being
automatically applied, and will do more to
inspire confidence than all palliatives.
These are an extremely sharp reduction in
the production of pig iron, and quite an
active export movement with the prospect
that the latter will expand considerably
since the margin now is very satisfactory"
So says the Iron Age. which adds:
LAS bearing on the first point, our reports
from blast furnace owners show that fur
naces have been blown out wholesale dur
ing July, making a staggering reduction
in the active producing capacity on Aug. 1.
At that date 240 furnaces of all kinds were
in blast. with a weekly capacity of 244.426
tons, against 2S4 furnaces on July /, with
a weekly capacity of 2S3,413 tons. This is
restriction of production in earnest, and it
should soon put the pig iron market in
better shape, particularly when it is con-
sidered that the movement has not yet ex-
hausted itself. In fact, in an informal
manner the furnace owners of the central
West have decided to bank a number of
stacks on Sept. /, which are now running.
1.-THE furnaces which have been blown out
in the past month are scattered all over
the country. In some instances the pro-
prietors of the furnaces blown out state
that their action is taken for the purpose
of making repairs, but in such times as
these repairs are not usually done under
pressure, and ii may be assumed that after
the repairs are completed such furnaces
will not be blown in unless their product
is needed. Meanwhile other furnaces are
to be blown out as soon as stock now on
hand is used. 1t is true the August report
shows a further accumulation of stocks,
but the rate of reduction of output in the
last month represents about 10000 tons per
month, or about double the recent monthly
rate OF accumulation OF metal. In the
meantime the closing down of so many
rolling mills on account of labor difficulties
and for other causes must lead to a steady
depletion of stocks of finished goods so
that in that direction, too, the situation is
becoming intrinsically sounder.
Then We are finding relief in our export
trade Very considerable quantities of steel
billets, tin plate, and sheet bars, skelp, wire
rods, and finished articles, have been ship
ped and contracted for shipment at prices
which net rather better than for the home
market. in spite of the fact that they are
very much lower than those ruling in the
British open markets. In other words
there is the prospect that considerable ad-
ditiOnal business may be put through, al
though freight rates are high aud show a
stiffening tendency. Costs abroad are on
high level, through scarce fuel, high labor,
and costly ores Prices here are TO some
extent unbalanced, finished products being
relatively much lower than the cruder or
semi-finished forms, a condition of affairs
which practically rules out those who do
not control the materials from the ground
up If the demand must call upon them for
product, the raw material must decline or
the finished product must advance"