White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1912-05-19
COPPER OUTLOOK
IS ENCOURAGING
INDICATIONS POINT TO LARGER
CONSUMPTION OF RED METAL
THE PRESENT YEAR THAN
DURING 1911.

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ducer's association. was smaller than
had been expected and must con-
vert the most skepticaI to the belief
that the industry is on a very firm
foundation. 1t is clear that con
sumption has taken care of the
huge amount of copper that was on
hand during the summer of 1910
and that. Notwithstanding the in
crease in production, copper Is be-
ing used in as large quantities as 1t
is being produced. The production
figures for the month were 1~25,464,-
GA pounds, which was about the
amount looked for, while export
deliveries did not show the expected
increase over the exports as report
ed from the custom house being 3d.
253,526 pounds whereas the custom
house figures showed something bet
ter than so. 900 900 pounds. The
deliveries to domestic consumers
were the strong feature of the show
ing and were considerably larger
than looked for. being 65.513.S 45
pounds.
The domestic deliveries reported
for April were the largest reported
for any months since January, 1910,
and prove the contention of pro-
ducers that consumption in this
country has increased very consider
ably. 1t is known, also, that our
consumers are not carrying very
large stocks of the metal and that
they will have to replenish their sup
plies before long. 1t is not eason
serious decline in the price of the
metal and the situation is such, in
fact, that a runaway market Is much
more to be feared than a weak one.
The Iron Age, the leading authority
in the steel trade, reports that con-
sumption of steel is greater than ever
before in this country and the same
conditions that produce such a
situation in steel must have more
or less effect in copper. Professor
Douglas, figuring on the average of
copper consumption as compared
with that of steel maintains that We
shall need all the copper there is
in sight and more to supply the de-
mand.
The decrease in the visible supply
of copper has really been remark
able. The largest total reported
was in July 1910, when it was given
as 401 ,301 Pr pounds, whereas the
total reported as of the first of
May this year was 1~76,727,749
pounds. The decrease since the mid
die of 1910 has been almost con-
tinuous and there is nothing to indi-
cate that the copper has not gone
into actual consumption. There
have been attempts to prove that
the output of the smelters and
mines has been in excess of the
amount refined, but no one has yet
been able to trace any considerable
amount of unrefined copper. 1t is
known that there will be a further
increase in production this year from
some of the newer porphyries, but
whether the amount will meet ex-
pectations or not remains to be seen.
1t is estimated by some authori-
ties that the production of copper
this year will prove to be fully
150. 100000 pounds in excess of
that for 1911, but, whether these
estimates are heal the mark or not,
it is clear that the outlook for con-
sumption is most promising. The
conditions abroad remain extreme
ly favorable and there is no let up
in the foreign consumption nor is
there anything to indicate a let up
in the near future. The better
trade conditions in the United States
and the more confident investment
sentiment, on the other hand, indi-
cate that we shall experience at least
the normal increase in consumption,
or about 10 per cent, which would
easily take care of the increased
production, even if the largest
predictions are fulfilled. There is
also the chance that consumption will
expand to a much larger extent
than anticipated, because of ex-
tensive identification OF suburban
and terminal lines by the lead
ing railways. 1t certainly looks as
j though the conner nrodurer had