The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-05
DEMAND IS ACTIVE
GREAT CONFIDENCE IN FUTURE
 PIG IRON MARKET.
An Evidence of Confidence Held by Furnace Companies is In Prepara- lions Being Made to Increase
 Production.

| Birmingham. Oct. 4.-(Special.)--
 Great confidence is expressed in the future pig iron and steel market by
 the Alabama and Southern manufac-
 tuFers. The demand right now is not | very active and what iron is being or- | dered, is in small lots with immediate delivery stipulated. There is evidence that large quantity of iron will be | in demand shortly. the hesitation In
 buying being occasioned by the politi- | cal campaign and nothing more. An evidence of the confidence held by
 the furnace companies Is in the prepa-
 rations being made to increase the production of iron During the month of September two furnaces were blown In Alabama and two in Tennessee. During this week three furnaces are
 on the calendar to resume operations and before the end of the month two others. making five iron makers for Alabama to get back into operation. No mention has been made heretofore Of the resumption Of operations at the 1 charcoal furnaces of the Shelby Iron Company at Shelby. in Shelby county. the demand for this class of iron being very good right now and indications pointing to healthy market in the future. In addition to the, five fur. naces to have the torch applied this month, reports have 1t that two other furnaces will be ready for operation shortly afte~ the election and there Is strong belief that the furnace companies can afford to start them up just as soon as they are ready,
 There is very little pig iron on fur mace yards In this state which belongs to the furnace companies. President, J. c. Maben, of the Sloss- -Sheffieid Steel and Iron Company, the second largest iron company in the south, is author. ity for the statement that Of the eighty-flve thousand tons his company
 had stackel up on furnace yards a few months ago. but eighteen thousand tons could be looked to as company property today. It was Mir. Maben also who gave out the information that the political campaign was caus.
 ing some of the large consumers to gn slow in their buying, notwithstanding
 that options were offered to the said consumers that they could cancel their orders R the election did not go to their desireB.
 Some recently placed business in
 machtnry in this section orders for cast iron pipe and other articles leads
 to the belief that there will be an un. usual demand for iron before long and
 the preparations for 8 larger product.
 ion will not be in vain. The proposit-
 Ion ot more iron that is being produc- cd at present will prove to be a good look into the future. is the way that some of the iron men put it.
 A few orders for iron to be deliver. ed in 1909 are being received in this
 section but nothing as yet to talk about. lively inquiry is noted but this is taken as a sounding only. If
 but a good per centage of the inquiry
 results in business 1t is pointed out the aggregate business booked for next year will be most respectable 2 9ssf es hA ct ordinary business. Occasionally there
 was an inquiry for a round lot ani efs
 fort was made to land 1t. The genep
 al trade was for small lots and immed-
 late delivery.
 There has been no trouble sxper. fenced as yet in getting all the service necessary to handle the product and
 despite the fact that the cotton crop Is beginning to move the railroads ap.
 pear to be able to handle the pig iron and steel as 1t Is being offered.
 Productions at furnaces in this dis.
 trict are splendid. in fact at several places record breaking outputs are an-
 nounced. On the SOth of September Ensley furnace No. 5 produced 43s tons of pig iron. The day previous the output aggregated zoo tons even with S9S tons on the 26th and 396 tons on the 25th. The previous record at this furnace was on April 7th, when 3S3 tons of iron were produced. The Alice furnace produced on the 21st of Sep- tember 2S3 tons of basic iron and on the 18th of last month 2s1 tons of iron the best previous record before that time being on August 10th. Other fur naces made excellent outputs and there was general satisfaction all around. The raw material supply is holding up well and the future is be- ing looked to. The Tennessee coal Iron and Railroad Company alone in September produced 124,555 tons oS hard ores red, and 19.440 tons of brown ore. This company Is building A nm Der of houses for employees and vii, add to the forces at the ore mines looking to better output of ore, The same company will during this week light up the Bessemer coke ovens nra- pairing for ten per cent increase at least in the coke supply The sema company has made arrap&nmenfs to Increase its production of Limestone to be used in the fluxi1g.
 With prices for pig iron firm das. pite efforts on the part of consnr1a~s to work any kind of movement tn T-a. better price, and the future demand expected to be extremely beav1, +La Alabama and Southern manufacturers cankbe looked upon as wise men at be- ing confident of all conditions ana holding high head. It is reiterated S4iHN N'S NUS4ASSS on LNe DOCKS for the balance of the year will renuire a steady production of iron to make de- llveries promptly.
 The figures of the production of mig iron in Alabama during the month of September will be out this week There is no doubt but that the ag- gregate will show a decided increase over what was turned out in in Aug ust. With but few furnaces in opera ton for fortnight if not longer dur ing the month.
 It Is estimated that ten furnaces. including the five slated for operation this month, can be gotten in shaps for operation by the end of the year. The Southern Steel Company Ebankrept), which concern is well under way of reorganization, has three furnaces which do not need such great amount of improvement before being in shape. The Birmingham Coal and Iron Company. the Woodstock Iron Company, the Republic Steel and Iron Company and the Woodward Iron Com pany each have @ furnace which can within short while bo put together for iron making. All indications point to a necessity of getting these iron makers into shape and starting them up.
 As stated. machinery makers, east iron pipe producers and some foun- dries have recently received business