The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-09
u. s. STEEL'S UNTITLED
ORDERS INCREASE FAST
Belief That Report for March
Will Show Jump Of
1000. 600 Tons.

Those in closest touch with III. his
tor!cal happenings in the steel indus
Try In the last SIX months would net
Ne surprised by an announcement; on
Monday that the unified orders on the
books %! the subsidiary companies OF th'
United states steel Corporation in
creased 1000. 900 tons during the month
OF March. This would indicate tina, tho
total contracts taken las; month
amounted 10 Nearlr 1900, 600 tons. II II
fair to state, however. that other esti-
mates are several hundred 'holeaud tons
less. The trade notwithstanding IL pre-
pared for impressive gains. due largely
to the extraordinary purchases of steel
rails by the transportation companies.
II is estimated upon fuller returns
from the steel companies that the out
put Of steel ingots in Mach aggregated
above 3.S5o.oOO toni by al interests. Of
which q little less thar 300. 900 tons
was produced by the United states
Steel Corporation. This indicates that
rolled steel products aggrega;lng 2.So0,-
900 tons were ma nufactured by all com
panies. q! which l.50O. 0O0 tons was
rolled by the subsidiary companies OF
the corporation. Because OF the con-
ges,lon on the railroads in the Eastern
territory. embargocs and other imped!-
mcu's - traffic ,he shipments wee not
as heavy as would he indicated by the
output. Tho total distribution may be
estimated at 5000 900 tons. Of which a
li'.le less Than l,4on. o0o tons was
shipped by the corporation subsidiaries.
Tie first week in April developed con-
tracts for steel products somewhat In
excess OF 10000 o tons, about One-third
OF which Is due TO the orders placed by
the railroads. although the car and loco
motive contracts were relatively small.
This decrease, however. was more than
compensated for by the continued heavy
buying of steel rails FOR 1917 shipment.
BY far the mos, important feature In
the steel trade last week was the an
man of the United States Steel CORPORA
ton. concerning the attitude OF the cor
porat!on rail mills in respect to prices.
An advance 81 s. a ton on light section
rails announced April } at Pittsburg IL
takcr as al indication that a similar adj
vance will he announced on standard seq
tlous on June l.. The railroads have ex-
peCted such action for AT least six
weeks. which accounts for tine feyerish
huy 'ng OF all kinds ~ rails for this and
next years delivery since March /, Tn
urf Inc 81, 'uiilSlhllCtS IL IS interest. ing Ia
again nOie that the highes, price ever
pad for bessemsr rails was size a ton,
established in April, 1865, In rh?t year
the average price of steel ra,,s was
sl5N 6S. AZ compared with an average
price OF Sli6 a ton In 1867. The lowest
price of iecor was $I6 n ton. made in
July. lANS-Nh-n destructive CONNECT
ton was responsible for profound de-
r'"ssion. Tn, average price during that
year was only sl7.G2 a ton Since May.
1901, the price of bcssemer rails has
remained uniform at SOS n gross ton.
but open hearth rails rave /
n prt MUM Of 81 "A ton over bessciner.
In the past few years the PennsVlvania
Railroad, the New York Central and one
or Two large Western systems have been
con l.cllcd to pay premiums OF from 81 10
81 a ton for standard and heavy sec
ton rails because OF the changed specif-
cations requiring heavy discards from
the insots and severe drop tests. entail
ing an additional cost Of manufacture.
Last year rhe Pennsylvania Railroad
paid a premium OF 33.SO a ton over the
price OF open hearth rails to the rail
companies. The anna specifications. II