Evening star., 1917-12-08
PORTLAND CEMENT ORIGINALLY
PATENTED BY AN ENGLISI1MANl

keen competition also resulted in dis
astrous price-cuttfng. etc
Another very important influence for
falling prices was Improvement I'm
the rotary kiln and the use Of pow
dered coal instead OF petroleum for
fuel-two improvements made about
the year 1Ss9-90-besides increasing
of cement more economical. Added to
these influences for reduced prices
there was the shock administered to
the industry by periods of depression in
general business. from which the ce-
ment business was very slow to recov-
er. and also one of the first lines to
suffer. Whenever the trade cycle start
ed on its downward swing, construction
projects. which had been so numerous
during the boom period, would slow up,
construction would send the price down
still lower. This was particularly true
in the depression of 1914-15. when CO.
ment prices reached the lowest level in
the history of the business.
The Outlook Of Cement.
During the past year or two we have
seen a rapid improvement in the ce-
ment industry. While production has
continued to increase, there has also
been great increase in demand. A
wider range of uses for the material
crease in demand. Perhaps the great
est factor for better conditions in the
Industry. however. has been the pros
perity OF general business in this coun-
try during the past two years. Other
materials have advanced rapidly in
price. which fact has further reacted
on cement. and boosted the price in
accordance with the, general market
for building materials. Furthermore,
new uses for cement are being found
~ not
striking is the employment of cement
in building trenches in France. ,Ac-
cording to reliable reports, these con-
crete trenches are the most, enduring
the whole line of battle. - -.
1t would be needless to point out the
various classes of work which now de-
pend upon concrete. whereas several
sidered for those particular operations.
Perhaps no better proof of the tre-
Inendous vogue of cement and concrete
construction is to be found than the
fact that this country Is now producing
a greater amount than any other couf-
try in the world. and that during the
past fifteen years our annual output
has increased from 1900. 900 to nearly
90 000,0 900 barrels.
The situation of cement at present
is this: Prices in the open markets are
higher than they have been for many
years: During the past two years great
activity in construction work has
brought the demand up to a point
where it could absorb tho overproduc-
tion of former years.
The question arising In the minds of
many Just now Is whether or not over
production has very recently occurred
This obviously is a question which only
time will answer. There are influences
for belief either way. There is the
rapidly widening realization of the
tremendous possibilities of cement
Again. as regards the immediate pres
ent, while there exists an acute scarcity
of steel. substitutIons of concrete for
steel are gaining favor daily. These
then. are factors pointing toward q
susutained demand for cement
I On the other hand, there is the feel
ing that the present market is boil
lstered up by the unusual conditions In
| transportation. and many believe that
a free operation of the law of supply
and demand would reveal the effects OF
overproduction and tend to lower
prices very materially,