The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-23
FURTHER BUSINESS
 REPORTED |N.STEE[
Steel Corporation Up to 70 Per Cent of Production
3 FURNACES BLOWN IN
Recent Pig Iron Sales in Buffalo Dis trict 15O,000 Tons-Virginia Iron Weak-Roads Placing
 Rail Orders

Cleveland. July 22.-The Iron Trade
 Review will say tomorrow
 "The United States Steel corporation
 has increased its percentage of steel
 works capacity in operation to 70 per
 cent. gain of per cent since the
 report of a week ago. The corporation
 has blown in three more blast fur |naces.
 New business and specifications of the corporation for the first three weeks of July show considerable inn provement in comparison with the same per cent in June. Reports from independent companies vary to con siderable extent. some reporting im- provement while others see very lit tie if any change for the better. information which has slowly leaked out shows conclusively that recent sales of pig iron in the Buffalo district have amounted to fully 1500oo tons including s5.0o0 tons for the Amer lican Radiator company. and s0,oo0 tons for the New York Car Wheel com lpany The prices were low and on at least part of the tonnage s12.5o for No at the furnace was shaded. since the heavy sales by Buffalo makers prices in that territory have been advanced.
 The General Electric company, which recently bought 10000 tons and | Is inquiring for 9600 tons additional. Virginia iron is weak and prices are | about 25 cents lower. The sales of mal- leable and foundry iron in the Chi cago district show considerable im- provement. One Cincinnati dealer in southern iron has sold a fair tonnage on the basis of s1O Birmin gham for No. | ? prompt and s1O.25 to S10.50 for last half delivery. The only important transaction in steelmalSing iron Is the sale of 15000 tons of basic to the Ko- komo Steel and Wire company at about S13 lake furnace.
 Tn finished materials the action of the American Steel and Wire com ' pany in advancing its quotation on wire products $1 per ton and the advancing Of prices of shapes, plates and bars for delivery on which the quotation of i$1.10 Pittsburg has been made by the Carnegie company aroused much in terest. The action of the corporation subsidiaries has been followed by most | of the independent companies but the l$1.10 quotation on plates shapes and bars has not entirely disappeared. In 1 the case of wire products the advance | is due largely to the prospect of inn provement on account of the great crops.
 "There has also been improvement In l some districts in shapes. plates and bars, but the advance on these pro- {, ducts is due largely to the determina- l tion of the mills not to sell at prices that are unprofitable"
 1 New York. July 22.--(Special.)-Th Iron l Age will say tomorrow:
 NO stir has been created by the an- nouncement of s1 a ton advance in wire products and in bars. plates and shapes, which leading producers made in the past week. effective July 20 The wire ad- vance was preceded by fair amount of | business at l50 for nails and 1.30 for plain annealed wire and better specifca- tions on contracts at these figures may result from the marking up of prices. 'rhe advances in bars, plates and struc- I tural steel, it Is admitted, are not due to the coming in of any large volume of or I fders. such as ordinarily push prices up. The fact is that the s1.10 c basis was no longer in itself stimulus to buying and 1 1t was believed as much business could | be had at .15.
 1 "The leading producers in the Pittsburg I and Chicago districts took the initiative
 and various independent. companies are now quoting $1 .15. It is too early to say how far the new effort will succeed Business in finished steel in July has been somewhat larger, the Steel corpora | tion reports. than in June. Of independ- | ent producers some have done slightly | better others have found little difference. | On the whole, the Steel corporation is now 1 up to 70 per cent in ingot production. Railroads are now ordering out from the mills all the rails they expect to lay | in the construction period of 1914. The | Southern railways order has been in- creased and the total amount 40,500 tons, | including 29,000 tons to the Tennessee com 1