Mohave County miner., 1914-03-28
"WatchfuI Waiting" is
 Policy of Copper Consumers.

sumers of copper in this country, tC judge by the small deliveries for do- nestle consumers during the past four months, says the Boston Financial News, continuing as follows: The de- liveries during that time have been less than two months of normal con- sumption and apparently, there has been no change in the attitude of buy CTS since the first of the current month. It is clear that the sudden letup in business that occurred in Novem Der hit the copper consuming industry very hard and that there has been little or no recovery since then. It may be assumed. however, that the manufacturers found themselves with considerable supplies on hand, when the drop in demand for thelr finished products came, and for the reason it seems fair to take it for granted that the actual consumption of the metal has been larger than the deliveries.
 The benefits of a foreign market is once again illustrated, for the deliver ies for export have prevented any large accumulation of surplus stocks of copper and the technical position of the industry has been kept strong. It is favorable feature of copper, also, that this foreign market is not secured by means of a protective duty that en. ables large profits to be made at home and thus permits of sales at discount abroad but is due to our ability to pro- duce and. also, to the fact that we have become the leading nation of the world in refining the crude material The refinery capacity of the United States, has been so developed that we are today refining copper produced in distant parts of the world and, ob- viously that gives us an advantageou , tries and an industry, also that promi- ses to become more important as the development of electrical power pro. ceeds.
 The outlook for copper cannot be de- scribsd otherwise than bright, for it is only a question of time when the de- mand for goods made from the red metal will become normal, and also. when the electrifcatiOn of railways will proceed on larger scale. Many of the stronger lines are now working on conservative lines in installing electrical power and when the com- panies again become prosperous they will take hold of the subject in larg- CT way. The supply of copper, in the meanwhile, is holding at low level and it would not take much of a buy. ing movement to advance the price materially. According to the reports for the month of February there were 6O,OO0,OO0 pounds in foreign ware houses and 7S,O0O,OOO pounds in the hands of our refneries, making a total of l3S,OO0,000 or about one month s supply, to meet the ordinary demand on our production. The supplies in the United States, on the other hand, are only about two weeks require ments.
 It is held by practically all author it'es that the output of copper will in- crease very slowly, if at all, from now out and therefore the average output of last year will probably prove . good measure of the output for 1914. The consumption of copper to the contrary is estimated to increase 10 per cent per annum in normal times and hence if we get back into normal conditions of general business, it will create a short age in the supply of metal. The con. sumer under these conditions may easily wait too long before buying, and apparently the foreign interests feel that it is good policy to lay Tn their stocks while the metal can be had at the low prices now prevailing. If it is safe to bank on business i,n- provements in the United States dur ing the next few months it is safe to bank on higher prices for copper with a strong, maintained demand. Bisbee Review.