New Britain herald., 1918-08-08
Steel and Pig
 Iron Markets
The Iron Age says today:

l The award of the war labor board
 to the machinists of the Bethlehem
 Steel Co.,, involving an eight-hOur day,
 collective bargaining and tho revision
 or discontinuance of the bonus sys- tenn, is the most important event of 1 the week to the steel trade. It brings i up the whole question of the use of (War eNigenCies to unlOnlze open shops tand of the extent to which the carry ling out of the plans of militant unioas-
 ism is to be put before united effort ] to hasten the ending of the war. That
 grave consequences are involved in the 1 handling of the labor question as re- l lated to the steel industry is now more
 evident than ever.
 l In respect to steel supply and de-
 mand, the outcome of the week has | been, first a decision by the war indus | tries board aVerSe to creating the addi- l tionaI reservoir of ship steel asked
 for by Director General Schwab; sec 1 Ond the gathering of data showing
 that the 33,000,000 tons of finished
 rolled steel which has been taken as
 the present annual capacity of the
 country, is considerably too low. In one stretch of five weeks, chiefly in
 May, it is shown that the rate was close to 38,000,000 tons of finished products per year.
 It appears that the ship steel in process or in stock at shipyards and fla abricating plants amount to about l., 900, ,000 tons. While the war industries board did not consent to increase the present shipments of 50,000 tons a week of ship plates by 20, 900 tons d week through the next quarter, or even by the 10000 tons 8, week later asked for, it's members are confident there will be no break in the ship
 building program for lack of steel.
 The deciding influence in the matter was the fear of members of the board that the impounding of additional def mite tonnage for ship purposes might mean the suspension of small but in the aggregate important private in dustries.
 Ways and means of increasing steel
 production have been carefully studied. But coal and coke labor are still the key, rather than extensions of rolling mill capacity. So far as the latter is cOnCered, probably l. 100000 tons more will be ready by Jan 1 chiefly in plates, but partly in large rounds, tile Steel corporation now having a $75O,OOO mill for this purpose under construction in the 1 Pittsburgh district.
 The statistics for last month show l that to increase pig iron output is 1 no easy matter. In the 31 days of | July the make was 3,420,9SS tons, or ! 11O,354 tons a day, against 3,323,791 { tons in June, or 11O,793 tons a day. The merchant furnaces increased | their output nearly 2,00O tons a day, as compared with June, while the steel works furnaces fell off nearly 2,50O 1 tons a day
 August humidity may bring down production, and probably will, but an increased rate would otherwise result from the blowing in of ad- d1tonal furnaces. The active list shows a net gain of in July The number in blast Aug. 1 was 364, with an estimated daily capacity of 112,6OO tons against 365 on July l with a daily capacity of Ill, ,130 tons
 France wants 44,OO0 tons of shell steel, part in December, but most of it in the first quarter of 1919. For government railroads the call is for 33,000 steel tires. The 1O,- 900 additional cars for the American Forces have been al- located.
 Work is now under way also on 10000 tons of structural steel for the first sections of the Neville Island gun plant, which will take probably three years to build and equip in it's en- tirety.
 The distribution of 200, 900 tons of rails for the Pershing operations in France has just been mader the lead ing interest receiving 127, 1000 tons and the remainder going to four in dependent mills. The plan to turn at once to rails several mills that have been rolling large rounds has just been changed to take care of 5OOOO tons of shell steel that must be turned out in August.
 July tin plate production, estimated at 3,000,000 boxes, held up remark ! ably well. The annual rate is now l not far from 900 0OO net inns