New-York tribune., 1912-04-04
IRON AND STEEL CONDITIONS
The Iron Age says

ne iron age says
The pig iron market has been increa ing
lv active. with prices advancing IN an diS-
triCts There are signs also that the de-
mand for finished material, which has occn
held back In some lines since manuiactur
ers took stand for higher prices, VIII oe-
Velop into broader movement as the sea
son advances. Pig iron output lncrcaSeu
remarkably i'm March. our statistics snow
a total of 2.405.SlS tons. against 2.lW6lo tons
In February The daily average was thus
75ql tons against 72i42 tons in the pre-
yjous month, q gain Of 5,l50 tons day. Such
4 forward bound has not been known III
many months. The steel companies con
tributed all Of the gain and more, increas-
ing their output by $3.50 tons a day over
February. While the merchant furnaces l. "
ba * $50 tons day. II is tradition or
The Industry 10 strain for RECORDS in March,
and this effort Was particularly noticeable
a Steel Corporation furnaces, the corpora
tons pig output IN March being about
10000 tons.
The rjg iron situation which was con
fused one week ago by the uncertainty as
Ia a coal strike and by speculation as TO
the effect Of the reduction IN Lake ore
prices has clarified rather rapidly. Demand
has developed for all kinds OF iron. The
largest transaction Was for e'.VO tons ct
Southern pipe iron, taken by one Interest,
and 900 tons additional Is under negOtiJ-
tion by the same buyer southern IRON has
advanced 10 minimum OF SO 20 for No. :,
while third quarter iron has sold at so 90
and Nl Is asked for that delivery hN Two
large sellers. No. and No. Southern IRON
can scarcely be had for prompt shipment
Northern furnaces have advanced thelT
prices y cents for foundry, grades In the
last week. and some are holding for 80 cents
h CHER Activity is more pronounced in tne
Fast than in the Middle West a sale Il
4nC0) tons of Bessemer iron 10 the Republic
Iron and Steel Company At Sl4 %, Mahonng
VALLEY furnace is reported this week. de
liveries covering April and May. Sellers
are asking $l4 10 end $lS, delivered. and buy
CTS offers Of $l4 80 have been refused
81 fNH
Rail orders Of the last week include 270y,
tons for the st. Paul. II 900 tons each for
the Omaha end the Chicago & Northwest
ern. % 400 tons for the Rock Island l2.6r
tons for the international & Great North
Cru and 5000 tons for Western road.
The Iron Trade Review" says:
Some remarkable records for sales and
specifications Of finished products were
made during March by subsidiaries OF the
Steel Corporation and also by some inde-
pendent companies. During the few days
immediately preceding April !. when many
contracts expired there was heavy specify
iug. Some mills in the Chicago and Pitts
huTgh districts now have more business on
their books than ever before in their his
tory. The production of coke and anthra
cite pig iron for March was the largest
since April, 1910.
Indications suggest that some buyers may
have Overstayed the market. and II Is esti-
mated on high authority that here is at
least $4,000 tons Of finished business now
orcn in the market upon which lower prices
have been sought unsucressfully by the
pI OSpective purchasers. This includes a
la Ge tonnage Of car material covering work
placed some time ago. for which the build
ers have been slow To make contracts. Pre-
dctions are being freely made that another
dollar advance in steel bars To 20c and In
plates and shapes to 26c is imminent The
Hartman lines are now negotiating for
1900 cars and other railroads are showing
signs Of revived interest in equipment pnr-
ChIgCr.