The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-23
HEINzE TALKS
COPPER MARKET
Big Operator Does Not Believe
Metal Will Drop Below Fiji
steen Cents.
CONSUMERS BID PRICE UP
NO GREAT DEMAND FOR COPPER
FOR SOME TIME.
CONSUMERS BID PRICE UP

f Augustus HeinZe, long one of the
most conspicuous figures i'll the copper
trade, said yesterday he did not expect
to see copper fall TO less than Is cents
mound. saws the New York Press. The
big selling agencies are quoting copper
at 1872 cents, but are willing to do bust
ness below that figure. Phelps. Dodge &
Co said yesterday many inquiries had
been received from consumers since the
cut to 1872 cents but the consumers,
though more interested in the market
than before the cut, were still holding OF
because they thought still lower prices
might be made.
II was reported Yesterday that a syndi-
cate Of consumers had been formed to
take over about 100,000,OO0 pounds Of cop
per in the fear that if il went much
lower the reaction upon their own lines
of industry might be too serious and be-
cause many OF them have unsold goods
the copper in which cost them % cents
and which they cannot sell prOfitdbly IL
extremely low prices for copper are made.
The existence of such a syndicate could
not be confirmed and was not generally
credited. The metal exchange quoted cop
per off a cent, electrOiytic being at l515
10 10 cents.
Future Is Still Uncertain.
No one can tell exactly what the flu
ture of the market will be- HeinZe said.
Il think the decline has brought the
metal TO a basis where actual sales can
be made There is q possibility that the
decline MAY extend one-half of one fun
cent more though / am inclined to believe
that proper selling price has about
been reached. and that the price of 10
cents pound Will prove attractive TO
many persons who have been holding out
7 want to say positively, however, that
with copper selling at Il or 10 cents
pound, there is plenty of money IN the
business for the producing companies.
THE public has forgotten, perhaps, that
on the advance "A few years ago, when
the metal reached the price of 10 cents
a pound the newspapers began speaking
about the remarkable rise. and reports
We're current that the Calumet & Hecla
people really did not want to see the,
metal selling above 10 cents.
But 1 know that many of the large
producers sold the same way and that
well managed mining companies were able
10 make great deal of money at that
rate The reaction the trade is witness
ing is natural under the circumstances.
Consumers Bid the Price Up.
The fact is that A few months ago
the large consuming interests became so
fearful that they would not be able to
buy what metal they required that they
bid up the price against one another and
purchased immense supplies. OF course
this demand made the producing COM
panieS think they had the market in their
own hands, and the result was that they
held to the . and 36 cent basis, regard
less of what was going on in the money
market and the reduced consumption de-
mand.
when the stringency in money reached
a stage where railroads were unable to
sell their securities, the largest buyers of
copper were obliged to restrict operations
and the demand soon fell off radically,
because of the inability of the transpor-
tatiOn companies to carry on the improve
ments they had planned. | do not expect
10 see any radical Improvement in the
demand for the metal until the money
market becomes sufficiently normal to
enable a resumption of the work that had
10 be abandoned by so many constructive
enterprises.
The banks that have had to make ad-
vances Oh the bills of ladinG, based on
shipments Of copper by the producing
companies through the selling agencies
have been forced to restrict fresh ad-
Vances until the old loans We're taken up
For this reason there has been d good
deal of copper pressing on the market
which | think can now be handled around
10 cents or within one cent of that basis