Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-30
MARKET
FOR RED METAL
Tendency Last Week Was To-
ward Higher Prices.
TO VERGE OF BUOYANCY
Consuming Interests Settled to Con-
viction That Higher Prices
Have Come to Stay.
TO VERGE OF BUOYANCYI
The New England Statist OF Monday

says:
The expected further improvement
came to the cope markets, last week,
on both sides of the Atlantic. In Lon
O the fluctuations were confined to a
narrow range, but the tendency was
steadily toward higher prices. The met
result Of the weeks trading was an ad-
vance Of Is Sd in spot and 81 i'm futures.
The volume of trading in the London
market was large, and the relatively
greater strength of futures was gener-
ally taken as q conclusive proof that the
buying was more for the consumptive
demand, and that the consuming inter-
ests were at last settled down to the CON-
viction that the higher prices have come
to stay.
The New York market la advanced
to the verge of buoyancy. After a slight
hesitation at 16h@16Ac, the first of the
week. 1870 became the ruling bid for
lake copper, and on Friday 200, 900 pounds
We're sold at tic, and tic was bid for
$50, 600 pounds more.
There Is no lOnger any question as to
the genulneness or strength of the for
eign copper market. 1t is now generally
acknowledged that the copper corner
in the interests of the Amalgamated
company and the ''threatened break of
the Secretan Syndicate order,' were
myths that were born INK had their en-
tire existence in the brains of certain
foreign metal brokers. Actual ship
ments of copper are now telling a tale
of enormous European consumption of
copper. Since January / nearly 1000
tons of the metal have been shipped from
the ports of this country. This is al
most as much as the largest mine in
this country will produce this year. Lon
don reports imports of 10000 tons, com
pared with II, 500 tons last year and 5000
tons in the same period of 1898. Last
vvyr1o1r tho ~ ~ >, - tS rrv~,,1 AL
and all indications pointed to larger ex-
ports In March than I'M February.
The statfstician of the New York Metal
Exchange has compiled figures showing
the consumption of copper in the United
Kingdom during January and February.
They move the Metal Market Report to
say:
1.-The figures would seem to indicate
that the consumption of copper in the
United Kingdom during the first two
months of the year was IS 91-10O per cent
larger in 1900 than In the year 1899.
Large as this increase appears, it is not
at all marvellous when we consider that
the normal ratio of increase in 1899 was
not only wiped out, but an actual in
crease was occasioned by reason of the
continued opposition to the rising mar
ket of 1899 by the leading London metal
brokers, who thus influenced the con-
summing trade in England to oppose the
eA "AAS Nv SNAL4A1S CtlCII oIOCIS - liz
metal. This policy was very injurious
to The English consuming trade, as it
led to the placing Of many orders for
manufactured copper (Which prior tt
that time a been placed with them)
with American n continental manu-
facturers. This policy was continued
throughout the first nine months of 1899,
and not until November were the eyes
Of the Britors opened to the fact that
no matter what m~anipulative Americans
had done with the English stocks of the
metal, the advance in value had been
and was based upon legitimate trade
conditions the world over and was not
to be stemmed wen by the ruin of their
own business. Since November, English
consuming buyers have been large pur-
chasers OF American copper, their buy
ing In America during January and Feb
ruary being particularly opportune, as
1t served to steady our market and
bridge over a hiatus in the buying of
American consumers which otherwise
might have caused an important decline
in domestic values"
The demand for lake copper again
leads that for electrolytic, and the price
of the former is a strong fraction higher
than the latter. Considerable discussion
mas been caused by a declaration in a
leading metalurgical publication to, the
effect that e1ectrolytic copper was in
very many ways superior to the lake.
The discussion a brought out the fact
that the electrical manufacturing com
panfes very much prefer lake copper and
are always willing to pay a little more
to get 1t. AS the market is the court of
hast resort in cases of this kind, this
seems to definitely settle the question
The annual report Of several of the
largest producing copper mines, recently
received. contain figures that pretty
clearly Indicate that their product last
year was sold for a considerably lower
average price than is now ruling in the
markets of, the world. BY this It seems
that the prediction made by several of
the leading cope authorities that in
1900 the producing mines will all receive