The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-10-09
BUSINESS FALLS
OFF IN STEEL LINES
Many RumOrs Af'oat Since
Signing Tariff Bill
REPORT RAIL BUYING
--
Production as Well as Consumption
Is Only Fractionally Less Than
at the High Point of
the Year
REPORT RAIL BUYING

l Oct oh 81 -
-, ... ....,,,,,.o,,.. To-, ao1
iion age M'i aas 'o'i'V' ~ - 80 -.
! steel nahuiactuiers anu coisuii'eis o.
quite at sea as to the course of demand
! and prices in the remainder of the year.
With the signing of the new tariff bill
! .hara 30 -, ,oo.o -, assor+,,en+ ~
.
prices of various products, usually " a
| ton in general these statements are
founded only on the conceded posslplnlJ
! OF placing good-sized orders at lower
prices than the mills have been quoting
| Business has fallen off and In the past
! week there has not been enough reaiiy
! to try out prices. Consumers are waiting
partly to see what the lower tariff brings
to pass. and dull market may be ex-
! pected for some weeks.
Yet in the present confusion over
| prices the fact stands out that production
as well as consumption is only fraction
ally less than at the high point of the
: year. In the quarter ending with Sep
TENDER, 81 days, pig iron production was
! about 100000 tons, or at the rate o.
S0500,000 tons year.
! The high rate of February represented
| about $4,000 tons a year, and output in
the first half of 1918 was at the rate OF
3300o,000 tons a year
The total pig iron output for all coke
and anthracite furnaces was 2,5O5,92I tons
for the 30 days of September or 1881 tons
day against 2,545,736 tons in August or
| 49,, tons day.
The beginning of rail buying is re-
ported from Chicago the Great Northern
having placed 10000 to $4,000 tons The
! Burlington order is reported to be 3D.
600 tons.
| Cleveland. o., October S.-tSpecial) y The
Review Tomorrow
Interest naturally centers in the probable
I effects of the low tariff law on the iron
and steel trade. In eastern territory, par
ticularly much attention has been given
to the subject during the past few days.
AS to pig iron, at present it is not prob
able any fixed English product could be
brought to the United States, although
the decline within a day or two has
brought the English price for delivery
in this country closer than ii has been
to prices made by northern and southern
furnaces for delivery on the Atlantic
coast
AS to billets and other forms of semi
finished steel which are now duty free
careful figuring is being done to see
whether it will pay to import them. But
so many considerations such as freight
rates which vary greatly from time to
time. credit systems, which are not al
ways satisfactory to American dealers,
4 and the quality, which frequently does
not come up TO American demands, must
be considered that it is extremely diff
cult to make any prediction as to what
| Importance, IL any, will be profitable.
There is even more uncertainty as to fin
ished products, which, however, are less
likely TO be imported than the crude
steel
On the whole, the iron and steel manu-
| facturers are viewing conditions without
much alarm and are complacentH await
ing developments The result Is, how
ever, that the waiting game has brought