The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-01
EXPORT BUSINESS
 TIN US. REACHES NEW HIGH RECORD
(New York Commercially


 Today, the second anniversary of the outbreak of the great war, wit nesses commodities at high level. It sees general conditions holding firm, with American dealers getting record high prices. Certain heavy chemicals and acids, however, show a decline amid the maelstrom of soaring values. That high prices will continue, at least for the duration of the war, seems certain in the fact that only a few of the more spectacular items in the chemical field have shown this drop, which is contingent only on phase of speculation in war orders and may be temporary, and that the rest of the same market is quite in line with the general level of commo- dities.
 Foreign countries are augmenting with significant regularity their grow ing heavy demands for goods made in the U. S. A. This is true in almost all lines
 Many markets report export figures that reach new records. The export of mineral oils, for instance, accord ing to government figures. show that for the Il months ended with May 30 the valuation of the exports was larger by s12,5o0,OOO than the total for 12 months of the preceding year, and the latter period included months of war-inf1ated values.
 There is apparently an abundance of money and easy credit, and these beyond the normal. Speculative buy ing is aided as a result.
 Considering market conditions as a whole, all this means that American purveyors of commodities-to eat, to wear, to build with-are getting more money, than ever for their wares. The inevitable corollary is that the Amer ican dollar will buy less than it ever did
 During August and part of Septem- Der, 1914, while yet the war was young, there was a steady rise in commodi- ties quotations, though it was subject to fluctuation and was not at all sen- sational. Still, prices advanced ma terially.
 When 1t ;, became clear that the United States was the only great power which had things to sell which the other countries needed, and when it was also seen that the means of shipping American commodities abroad were not to be broken down entirely, the sensational advances began. l The heavy American crops of 1914 and 1915 were sold at high prices to a clamoring market, and it was so with other commodities For the two years ended June 30, U s. exports of farm, mine and factory products exceeded similar commodities brought into this country by $3,25o, ,0oo. War muni- tions comprised the bulk of the 1n- creased export trade.
 Official figures are available show ing that for the 22 months ended last May the value of exports in cartridges, explosives, firearms and other war supplies was $458,24,O11. For the three years immediately preceding the war this country had exported total of these commodities amounting to only $2,579, ,206.
 The drug market has witnessed some of the most spectacular rises in prices of all lines. It now stands, in output and prices, far ahead of where it did before the war. Moreover, in no branch of commodities are new fields of trade being explored more intelligently or with better promise of holding the advantage gained during the war period.
 | Steel and iron, of all American in- dustries, have borne the brunt of war demands from abroad, since it is most important in the munitions situation. Prices have reached new high marks and the volume of new business is be- lieved to exceed even the increased capacity of the plants.
 The United States Steel Corpora ton, in it's report for the quarter end- ed June 30, issued last week, shows net earnings of $81,126,O48-an amount far in excess of any previous quarter.
 The war has sharply reduced the dyestuffs supply and has restricted the immigration on which the textile industry counts largely for its labor These have been important factors in raising textile prices, together with the increased wages of mill hands.
 Grains, hides and leather are away up. Export orders for breadstuffs have crowded the mills until they had difficulty meeting the demands of the domestic trade. Large quantities o1 grain are stored in New York, wait. ing shipment on the vessels which ii is hoped will take it abroad, but the shipping situation is regarded as serious.
 Oils, mineral and otherwise, are wa, up, the high prices seemingly being due as much to increased demand coupled with gradual deterioration o1 the fields as to the war. Petroleum lexports. however, were 4O.oco .oot gallons less than in the previous year The gasoline demand in the United States increased fully 25 per cent.
 Building and structural material. have advanced enormously. The sam. applies in only slightly less measure tc foodstuffs used by every housewife Business is unprecedented both in vol ume and price, and bids fair to SC continue until after peace comes.