The copper era and Morenci leader., 1917-07-06
THE METAL MARKET

Lake is 31 to 31 3-4 cents and cleo trolytic is 32 3-S to g 3-4 cents pound. For third quarter delivery electrolytic is 30 1-2 to 31 1-4 cents and for fourth quarter 29 1-2 to 30 cents pound. It is generally under way for the purchase by the United States government of a considerable l tonnage of copper deliverable during the last half of this year, and until effected is announced consumers are expected to continue buying as spar ingly as possible. The latest rumor is that this government and it's allies will make their purchases cooperative l ly and that price of 25 cents has been practically agreed upon. Within few days the outcome Of the negotia- tions now under way should be an- nounced.
 So far as producers are concerned they have other things to worry about than the price that the government may decide to be fitting one to pay for copper It is their desire to in crease production and to make sure that supplies will be large enough to meet the full requirements of the war ring nations. Taxation. wage ad- vances and the rising prices of sup plies of all kinds are increasing pro- duction costs; but none of these fac tors are being permitted to stand in the way of efforts to enlarge the vol ume of output After the require ments of the several governments { are supplied the quantity remaining threatens to be insufficient to take care of industrial needs and it seems altogether possible that the highest prices of the entire war period may yet remain to be paid.
 1 If the mining companies of North and South America are to succeed in producing materially larger aggre- gate amount of copper this year than they did last they will have to make a better showing during the coming six months than they have so far. The extremely cold winter weather cut down the output of many mines quite severely, and the indifferent in- i efficiency of the miners, brought about by the agitation of labor organi- zation leaders, and strikes, fuel short age and mine accidents seems likely to restrict production at one point aud another by more than 150,O00,0O0 i pounds.
 l The mines of Butte are operating at perhaps one-third of their produc- tive capacity, due to labor troubles, and this means a falling off of some thing like 20,000,000 pounds per month l in the production of that district. i Kennecott's richest mines in Alaska which should have an output, new that the summer season has set in, of 10,- 000,O00 pounds monthly, are closed by a strike. Greene-Cananea. oppressed by excessive taxation and under at tack by the I. w. w. and German sympathiZers, has suspended opera tions, temporarily, and Granbys Phoenix mine and Grand Forks smell ter are idle because of labor troubles and inability to obtain fuel. Advices reach me from other points that smelt- 1 ing operations are being curtailed be- cause of scant supplies of coal and coke.
 The highest justifiable estimate of production and imports fol this year t&nd including the output Of the Chile 1 Copper company which is refined at | the property and does not reach our electrolytic plants) would be 2,700,- 000,000 pounds of copper. comparing with 2,363,811, ,122 pounds reported by the government as the aggregate pro- duction and imports for 1916. It is all together probable that 1,200,000,000 pounds will be exported and that not less than 3O0,0OO,O ,OOO0 pounds will be ment for war purposes. This would leave 1900 OO0O,O0O pounds for domes- tic consumption, and included in this will be the quantity of copper manu-
 factured into munitions. ships, air craft, machinery. etc, for export. Last year domestic consumption exceeded the targets amount likely to be avail able this year by 229, 9,755 .266 pounds. There is no good reason for the as sumption that exports Of copper in manufactures will |be materially small CT this year than last and the strictly domestic consumptive demand ought to be fully as large.
 ! It is an interesting fact that the electrical manufacturing companies are extremely busy, notwithstanding ] thn n1-nilinnc tnrndQnnnN -tA rlSt t1ict