New Britain herald., 1918-05-24
Steel and Pig
Iron Markets
The Iron Age sa.Vs.

The sudden conference at Washing
ton last Friday between the War In
dustrtes Board and leading steel
makers was continued by a joint COM
mittee In an all-day session in New
York on Monday. The main differ
ences Of opinion to the absorption
Of the full steel output by the govern
ment turn on the time factor.
If all the steel in the surprising
total made up by the War Board can
be applied to ship. proiectile, track,
car, LOGON olive, farm implement, Oil
we'll, structural and other war uses in
the specified delivery period, there 1s
no escape from the conclusion that
little steel can be had for ordinary
consumption this year.
The steel men have doubted the
ship plate figures, arguing that no
such tonnage could be used unless
plants to turn out hundreds of ship
engines and boilers can spring up al
most over night. Nevert h eless, the
steel committee has gone to work 20
increase at once deliveries Of plates,
shell steel and rails in which demands
are most pressing. May now prom
Uses the largest production in u
m onths of both pig iron and steel in
gots.
The most serious factor in the stu
a ton is the loss Of three months time
in the placing of LOGON olive and car
orders-a delay costing the Allies
thousands of tons of steel that by no
possibility can now be delivered in
1918. Some of the steel for the new
cars has been allocated this week, in
GLIDING $4,000 tons of plates to the
Steel Corporation. The total of plates,
| shapes and bars for cars is 922110
TONS deliveries to be made in 120 days,
beginning June 20.
The Midvale Steel & Ordnance Co.
| is about contracting to build and OPP
crate for the government great plant
at Nicetown, Pa, to turn out 16-inch
howitzers, additional land being &C
| quired by the government. For this
| and the Neville Island gun and pro-
| jectile plant, which the Steel Corpora
| ton has just started to build, more
| heavy machine tools are wanted than
| present capacity for such tools can
| supply, and the government is urging
| extensions in that industry.
| Important among the price adjust
| ments announced on May 81 was Sc
per ton advance cast iron water
pipe, a. reduction Of Csc per 100 lbs.
| for structural and ship rivets and 15c
| for boiler rivets> Ca differentiation now
cent. on smaller rivets. Copper bear
| ing low PHOSPHORUS pig iron was ad
vanced So per ton.
The April volume of ia brica ted
structural steel business was 1900
| tons, or $4,000 tons more than in
| March, but the bridge and building
shops have taken work over the last
six months at an average rate no
| higher than 123, 900 tons, against
| pacity of 1900 tons per month and
! these six months bookings followed a
: lean period of half a year, averaging
$4,000 tons a month In other words.
, only 81 per cent. Of capacity has been
! enga ged in the last 2 months.
BY a recent ruling at Washington,
! tin plate mills will now restrict de-
| liveries to manufacturers making food
| containers for the government and It's
I allies Tobacco and paint cans, bottle
shoppers and other products are thus
| cut from the list.
The British governments inquiry
| for 1000 tons Of barb wire is one Of
| an increasing number of Allied re-
! quisitions responsible for the latest
| upward revision Of the War Board S
| tonnages.
The question of labor supply to keep
up steel production is more seriously
| considered. The MldEale steel q ORD
| nance Co. has taken up the proposal
| to introduce women into it's machine
| shops at Nicetown and its wire mills
| at Johnstown, to provide against a
! prospective shortage of men.
An order sent from Washington this
| week for the closing down of the
| Cromwell Steel Co.'S rolling mill at
| Lorain, Ohio, is the first exhibition of
| the new method of control. The com
| pany has been rolling shell steel bars.
! but is now ordered to ship it's ingots
| to another plant engaged on govern
ment work.