New Britain herald., 1916-04-13
STEEL MARKET LESS
 FEVERISH THIS WEEK
New Buying Lighter and Fear for
 Supplies DimimShes
The Iron Age today says:


 There is the same urgent demand
 upon the mills for the delivery of
 steel, good deal of it overdue. but
 the market is less feverish and new
 buying is lighter. Manufacturing g
 consumers are covered for some
 months ahead and the fear of not be-
 Ing able to get material for their oper-
 ations in the second half of the wear
 IS less a factor.
 The large increase shown in the
 steel Corporations thrilled orders
 points to continuance of the present i straln Tor good many months-that | Ill the main is the judgment of the
 'rade, and there it little attempt to appralse the factors in the advance rom o,ob9,OOO tons of orders on Feb. -' to 9,331, ,OOO on March 31 The neaVy March rail orders are generally thought Of, but it is not known what part of them is included.
 A certain amount of possible steel consumption is being cut off by high prlces, put apart from smaller buving or Wire products the ultimate con- sumer has scarcely been heard from and steel manufacturers have heen 100 much driven to give heed to sne- clal appeals like that of the implement Hlanufacturers. Negotia tions of some or the latter for bars and speciaI shapes Tor the second half show. how eVer' that they are not disposed to buv ii1ore than half to two o-thirds their 1 oual amount. Bars have brought as l ilish as 2.ooc., Pittsburgh, in some re- 1 cellI transactions of this sort. Sellers l oA certain supplements, on their part, l ar
 products that will strike an average between the 1ow-priced steel of con- tracts that are running out and the higher prices they have lately maid ar will soon pay. 0-
 Mills Reach Limit
 Ha1l sales for 1917 have broueht l oohle mills to the point of having dis posed Of all the rails that can he rolled from the steel apportioned to mem for the full first half of 1917 dho Tn one or two cases farther. Mora steel capacity will be coming aIone ate this year and early next year and ne rall mills will share in it's outnnt meanwhile developments point. not to iuctuatlng prices for rails, but to lie" stabilized price, beginning with VI way, ranging s3 or s4 a ton above l lie $oo level for open hea rth rails.
 LII the past week sales of 100000 oiis U! ralls for next year have been iaoe m the Chicago district, includ- ig 4o,oO0 tons for the Northern Pa nc. The Pennsylvania order is ex ec.eo to be 175,o00 to 100000 tons. me railroads are rapidly closing for s leir track fastenings for 1917 An7one lese contracts an interesting one is 'r O,000 kegs of oil-treated bo1+s fo~, le B. Ss o. The French State Railways b,,.o d ought 4,000 cars of which 800 will d built in the United States. Car $ Ia got the larger part and some were It aced Tn Spain. Domestic railroads osed Tn the week for about 4.50O e' ITS. '''0o SC
 Chicago Prices Advance (" Little is to be said of price changes " .ilcaso sellers of bars and shapes 'Vahced those products S2 ton lo plates $3 ton, but there are
 corresponding advances at Pitts rSh. western iron rolling mills ~ Ire slow to feel the effect of inc Cf demand for rounds of to general steel bar market. bnt It W for the first time in many months co 7y are filled up for seven or eipb+ i'd eks ahead. pa me structural trade shows the an ST laly of bookings in March equal to 10 per cent. of the countrv's fahri- co Ing capacity for month and at the co ne tune aggressive bidding by large su creators, particularly in the West. OH oheet mills are Overrun with bus Slc ss Tn their galvanized and blue an- aled product, while black sheets are Tn falr demand with prices weak comparlson with every other de- lot 'tment of the market. Fl olttsburgh producers have shown au le interest in recent efforts of for A buyers to place orders for hi1- de- }, rounds and forgings. They have fin 'ply mad to put off considering new sir lhess Of this character. Soutb
 steel company has been offerino le seml-fln1shed steel for exnort and above the requirements of car wire plant. At New York an in on ry has come up for 100000 ions Ha- Sin. shell forgings fall larch is rated by leaders in inc nie lift, market as the month of record her lsactlons in merchant iron. data left le" from northern and Virginia l roa laces indicating over 1000, 900 tons sev, |. Prices are we'll held, but the Id advances producers have pre- ed await the coming of an Urgent N lahd for spot iron such as has been Her at no time in the past years Chi cement na r.,