New Britain herald., 1917-07-26

Steel and Pig
Iron Markets
The Iron Age says:


| Buyers of pig iron and all forms of
finished steel continue for the most
part to hold aloof from the market,
and their fear of what may happen to
| prices as the result of government
! action is in sharp contract with their
willingness only lateley to pay any
price the produced might name
1t is evident that finished steel in
the hands of manufacturers and lob
bers is of fair proportions, and the
latter in particular are disposed to
work down their stocks in the interval
of waiting
Meanwhile the governments cost in
quiry goes on, with evidence that the
problem of determining a representa-
tive cost of any form of finished steel
is found to be more complicated than
| was counted on at the outset.
| The summary ending of the ship
| building controversy means an early
| increase in government demand upon
plate and structural mills ond the Steel
| Corporations formation of ship
building subsidiary points in the same
| direction. The 5000 tons of steel YES
sci capacity to be built in the coming
| year will take about 100000 tons of
| plates, or about so per cent. of what
| the ship plate mills can produce In
| AO oIItC1 llIS VII 81 Icll sc d part OIL inc
| total output be taken by the govern
ment, in spite of some loose statements
| from Washington as to the govern
| ment requiring the entire maxim UNI
| output of the mills for some time to
| come"
| There is some comment on the slow
! ness of specifications on steel which
| manufacturers were officially told
| several weeks ago must be put through
| at once, one such lot being 10000 tons
! of rails for the governments use
abroad. No order for these has been
received.
For Italy an inquiry for TO- 900 tons
/ of plates and considerable tonnage
of wire and other products has come
| through Washington, but no mill was
! found willing to take the business with
| the attached stipulation that the price
would be fixed later by the United
States government. This is the first
test of the attitude of the steel makers
on the proposal that the government
and it's Allies come in on the same
basis.
On the other hand there has been
buying for France through the old
channels, the French Mission through
J. P. Morgan & Co. having already
placed 25,0 tons of plates, out of a
total of $4,000 tons, for naval vessels
and canal and river barges, deliveries
to be made in September and October.
For hull steel &C was paid and for
boiler plates &c.
Japan's requirements in ship steel
are a matter of negotia ton between
the two governments, but for the
present the needs of this country and
of France and Russia are having
precedence, with particular urgency
for steel for the 500 Russian 1ocomo-
tiveS.
1t is estimated that 100000 tons
of iron and steel products for export,
including machinery, are now on the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts or in tran
sit to shipping ports. With such con-
gestion and the delays in export Ii
censes there has been some re-selling
of pig iron and of products rolled for
export
It is understood that the French
government has been willing to have
deliveries on it's shell steel held uE
and precedence given to rails and
track supplies of which a large ton
mage will go forward for the rehablh-
tation of it's railroad system under the
direction of an American expedition
of 1000 men.
The expected taking up of large
part of the capacity of leading fabri-
eating companies with ship work OIL
sets the effect of high building costs
on the structural trade The present
price of structural steel erected is
around $3.50 per ton. as against $5o
three years ago.
The production of enough tin plate
to take care of the packing of per-
ishable foods is now assured. Mills
off Of
trade at attractive prices. Recent sales
from stock have been at SIS per base
box.
Dizziness and in some districts evil
dences of weakening have been the
pig-iron markets response to the dis
cussion of governmental regulation. 1t
is recognized that for the present &C
tual government regulation OF the
general market has been averted, but
the moral effect of low prices to the
government on large quantities of fin
ished materials is matter of vide
concern in view of the extreme ad-
vances in pig iron. At Pittsburgh on
some resales of Bessemer iron as low
as $50, Valley. was done. and basic
iron is normally $52. In Northern
Ohio, some sellers have put limit OF
s55 on No. 2 foundry iron as against
sol ana 500 recently dSheu' oo"'lloi -
iron resales have shown range OF
s45 to $48, but business has been very
much restricted.
Old material, always sensitive to
changes in sentime nt has steadily de-
clined since the markets for new steel
halted For time covering of deal
ers' short sales regulated the down.
ward movement but in the past week
such helps have been absent. In
Northern Ohio heavy melting steel