The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-10-20
LIKE CONDITIONS
PREVAILED IN PAST
Boston Market Writer Predicts
Fiftccn-Cent Copper Next
Year.

/ According TO George l.. Walker, OF
Boston, the figures on copper received
| from the Producers Association. arc
to certain extent misleading, and havc
tendency ON their face to make con
djtious appear even more gloomy than
they actually are. In his weekly cop
per letter, Walker in part says: 'Tho
statements of the Copper Producers
association arc strictly honest; indeed,
they 'lcau backward They arc based
on actual deliveries of copper and not
on sales. Therefore, for illustration,
a sale Of l0.0OO.000 pounds for delivery
over a period of four months would con
tinuc to figure in the surplus 10 u great.
or or less extent until the final dc
livery WAS made. As yearly as ! am
able to estimate. after consulting n
number Of authorities on the subject,
The surplus in this country. as the fig
urcs are now made up, can never be
reduced below 5O0O0,00O pounds. No
matter how urgent the demand foT
metal, as much as 100000 pounds will
be delayed AT one point or another wait
ing for ears or boats. or accommodating
10 SiZablc shipping lots. The same
is true of the foreign visible supply of
copper, which is reported twice month
~, number of years ago the foreign
visible supply was reduced to about
1000 tons, or $4,000, 600 pounds. With
the present volume of business, how
over. il probably could not be reduced
below 10000 tons, or 10000, 900 pounds.
While presumably there is now a
world s surplus of 250,00O.OO0 pounds,
therefore. the actual surplus. which it
Is possible to absorb. is not over go
100000 pounds; and of this amount
probably 10000, 600 10 100. 100000 pounds
of copper Is already sold for couSump-
ton. but not vet delivered. Thus the
figures which we are receiving are in
many ways misleading At this par.
ticular time they make the outlook
blackcr than it really is.
''Thc current discussion of the qucs-
ton Of curtaiuing production, and the
disposition of many men who should
know better to sec the future of the
copper situation from pcSsimstic
standpoint, hardly merit sincere con
sldcralion. On two previous occasions
since ! have been writing on the cop
per situation conditions have been al.
most precisely as they are now. The
last time was in 1902 when there was
au accumulated surplus of 300, 100000
pounds, equivalent, as related TO pro.
ductlon and consumption at that time
10 J0O.0O0000 pounds now; and rcls-
lively as many new producers were
coming in then as now. The pcssi-
mists were pointing to Greene ConsoIi-
dated, Calumet & Arizona. CRANKY.
Bully Hill, Copper Range. Mohawk and
Utah Consolidated rs the new producers
which were responsible for the over
production. and which were destined
TO prevent copper ever selling as high
aS Ia cents again. That surplus was
absorbed IN n very short time. the out
put of the new producers went into
consumption, and the advance in metal
prices never stopped until they reached
26 cents. Remembering the history of
that period very wildly, | cannot but
feel confident rs 10 the future of the
metal market now. There is not the
shadow of a doubt in my mind that
the price of copper will average approx
inateiY - cents per pound throughout
next year.