The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-12
SHIPMENTS HEAVY DURING PAST MONTH.
Steel Corporations Unified
 Orders Favorable
PIG IRON MARKET DULL
Decided Revival in Placing Structural Contracts Takes Place in West. Rail Shipments in 1913 Were
 S77,000 Tons

CleNeiand, O., March 11.-(Sp pec ecia1 The Iron Trade Review will say to- morrow:
 Various attempts to show that the Steel corporation's showing of thrilled orders for February indicating a gain of 412,760 tons was not as favorable as 1t appears, are not well founded Shipments were heavy in spite of somewhat unfavorable weather. book ings averaged more than 50O0O tons daily and the report is encouraging Other developments in the market have Tot been so favorable New business and specifications on contracts for finished materials have declined and some very low prices are being made especially on structural material. Some contracts being taken by fabricators and erectors indicate that the plain material is being figured on an ex- tremely low basis.
 The 5o,000, ,O00-ton record for ship ment of Lake Superior iron ores. which has been talked of for years, would have been attained last year if 52,SS4 tons more, about four boatloads had been shipped. Statistics just compiled
 
 shipments for 1913 amounted to 49, 947,- He tons. gain of 1,725,570 tons com pared with the previous record which was made in 1912. The all-rail ship ments in 1913 were S76,6 63S tons and the movement by lake was 49,07047S h. dependent ore mining companies made an excellent showing.
 Pronounced dullness continues to characterize the pig iron market, but prices are being firmly adhered to by most furnaces. It remains to be de- termined whether present prices will prevail for last half. The Dominion Iron and Steel company, which recent ly sold some 25,000 tons of pig iron foI delivery in che east, has withdrawn as seller, but may return to the mar ket later. The appearance of the Can adian company as a seller in this coun- try has caused considerable anxiety among eastern furnace operators. The price at which Indian iron is being quoted for delivery in this country, $17.50, is too high by several dollars to make 1t a competitor of American iron.
 The purchase of coke nclues a round tonnage of Connellsville furnace grade for shipment during the next few months and a Schuylkill valley con- sumer at s2 ovens. 20.000 tons to Lehigh Valley buyer at slightly over $2 and 5000 tons by valley consumer at s2. An interesting development in the coke field is the awarding of a contract by the Lehigh Valley Coke company. South Bethlehem, Pa. to the Fl Koppers Co.,, for by-product coke plant of 424 ovens. The new plant will be second only to that of the Gary works of the Indiana Steel company. which has 800 ovens.
 A decided revival in the placing of l.. 1-.. ,sI western territory and there is a fair amount of contracting in other sec tions, but low prices are being made on fabricating and erecting the great railroad bridge over the Mississippi at Memphis will require 16,000 tons of steel for the bridge proper, which will be used The bridge approaches re- erected by the Virginia Bridge and Iron works.
 New York. March 11.-(Special) The Iron Age will say tomorrow: Tn the finished steel trade the first part of March has been disappointing. Those who would stem the tide of unfavor- able sentiment which lately has been rising, recall that just two eyars ago the feeling in the trade was far from confident, but April brought aboard buying movement in many lines.
 The statement of United States Steel corporation showing a gain in thrilled orders of 412 900 tons in February. or 14,700 tons a day, gives a better account of that month than was indi cated by much of the February com ment on the market
 So far as can be learned indepen- dent steel companies did not make gains in unified orders last month in proportion to those of the Steel cor poration. Some of the former. how ever, have had fuller blast furnace operation than the Steel corporation for now being 75, after the blowing in of five furnaces last week. and the blow ing out of one. The Steel corporation has so per cent of ingot capacity ac- tive this week.
 Reports from important market een- ters show that while consumers want all the steel they bought in the Janu- ary spurt, new orders are not heavy and on some products. as plates. shapes and bars the advance which was asked in February is not being maintained at Chicago. The Pittsburg basis is again more difficult to hold plates and shapes as well as bars having sold in some cases below SIP Pittsburg equivalent
 Sentiment at Chicago is influenced by the continued lack of railroad de- mand, and the conditions which have @unfavorably affected certain implement n. oia