The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-13
CONDITIONS FAVOR
 THE STEEL TRADE
Large Scale of Mill Opera
 tions Will Continue
RAIL BOOKINGS LARGE
Republic Iron and Steel Company Announces Two Million Dollar Building Programme - in-
 quiries From England

New York. June 2.--(speeial.)-The Iror
 Age will say tomorrow:
 l Conditions in the steel trade favor
 continuance through the summer of the present large scale of mill operations
 with an advancing tendency in prices Reports that an advance of $1 ton or some of the heavier finished forms will be made July i will at least be a stim- ulus to specifications in June, which promises to show very heavy shipments
 to save cancellations on low-priced con- tracts expiring with this month. l The strain in the coke situation has
 been relieved for time, at least, and prices for both prompt and contract fur mace coke are lower. A sale of 15,00C
 tons month in the last half has been
 made at s2 .25 at oven and one of 5000 tons month at g .15.
 Rail bookings thus far for 1912 are con siderably larger than at this time last year.
 The Oregon Short line has taken 12,00O
 tons in the past week and the St. Paul 15,oO0 tons additional. The Grand Trunk
 Pacific has placed 10000 tons in this coun- try and the Canadian Pacific Is negotiat-
 ing for 15,OO0 tons.
 Bar mills have two or three months work ahead on present specifications and
 reinforced concrete work is still male- ing large demands. At Chicago bar iron
 is si ton higher.
 Contracts are yet to be placed in the
 east for four new vessels intended for
 the South American west coast trade,
 eastern ship yards are inquiring further for plates and shapes All but one are filled up for nearly a year.
 The Republic Iron and Steel company announces a s2.oOO. GOO building programme, including four merchant mills at Youngs- town and a by-product coke plant at
 Hazelton, increasing It's coke capacity by
 10 per cent The Steel corporation this
 week made an appropriation for new
 hoop mill construction in the Pittsburg district
 Pig iron has been more active in the east, but quiet elsewhere. Higher prices are quoted on foundry grades in eastern Pennsylvania. At Cleveland, which has been low market, No. foundry iron has advanced to $l350
 Cleveland, June 12.--(Specia1 1.-The Iron Trade Review tomorrow will say: Owing to unsatisfactory labor condi tion in England and an active de- mand for material 6 number of In quiries for crude steel and finished pro- dncts have been received from across the sea. A sale of 5000 tons of steel skelp for shipment to England has been made. the material to be furnished by Pittsburg mills. An inquiry for 1000 | tons of plates Tor export to England is also pending. Buying of cars Is not ac- I tive as it was. but inquiries for from 10000 to 75.000 cars are pending. The
 Baltimore and Ohio will probably close next week on a large number of steel under frames. The Central of New Jer- sey has awarded 1000 gondolas. While manufacturers of wire pro-
 ducts feel that for the most part there Is little reason for complaint, some of
 the mills are not well supplied with specifications and production is being
 curtailed. The leading interest has
 maintained the market price of s1.60 Pittsburg for nails but this price is being shaded by other makers. There has been some shading on quo-
 tations in wire rods. The coke market
 has presented some very interesting features. Blast furnace operators as a 
 rule refuse to contract for $250 ovens and assert that 1t will be impossible for them to pay such price unless lpig iron quotations show substantial | advance.
 On the other hand leading coke pro- ducers in the Connelsville region are standing firmly for $2.50. The appar- ent impossibility to increase the pro- ductions in the Connellsville region Is favorable to high prices. In spite of occasional contracts being made at from s2.25 to S2.50 deadlock exists as to most interests of contract coke. On l spot furnace coke the market has been moving rapidly up and down. While within few days this grade has been sold as low as $1S5, then recovered sharply a given quotation cannot be counted upon to continue for more than
 2i hours. Shortage of labor supply at I the Connellsville region Is still a source of very serious embarrassment | to the operators.