The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-30
IRON MARKET IS THRObb|NG WITH
 RECORD BUSINESS
Nearly Every Modern Stack In District Working to Capacity-Filling Amer ican and European
 Rush Orders

Twenty thousand tons of Birmingham iron for export, Italy leading. have beer placed on the order books of local iror makers in the past week.
 Among the orders are these:
 Two each of 15N0 tons for Italy. one of 100 and one of 800 tons for tie same country
 A half dozen orders for export, desti nation not known. aggregatiug 500 tons. Scotland is understood to be repre-. scented.
 Three companies share the business Two have booked 5000 tons each and one about 5000 tons. Bookings were made through export agents and the destina. tion will not necessarily be known un til shipping instructions are received Some of this iron is for July shipment or earlier.
 Southern iron makers have felt all the more willing to enter these foreign or. ders, because the freight congestion 1T this country is so delaying deliveries as to pile up domestic iron in transit.
 The foreign buyers are paying the full market price. which Is S42 per tor f o. b. furnace. No effort is being made by the large operators to raise the base although some spot lots bring $+3 ano $44
 ENGLAND WANTS IRON
 England is asking for 10000 tons. It is not known if that order has been placed Another English inquiry is for 10000 tons of basic. which at least one company. has declined to book
 Alabama iron production Is at the highest point reached in many months Active stacks now are eight of T. c. on basic and one on foundry: five oi Sloss-Sheffield on foundry; three oi Woodward Iron on foundry and one on basic; two each of Republic and Ala. bama on foundry; one each of Wood. stock, Sheffield Corporation. Central Goa and Iron and Jenifer on foundry: one at Shelby on charcoal This compares with fifteen active stacks at this time last year. The increase Is more than 75 per cent.
 The district has made another showing in crisis similar to that of last fall, In the early days of the steel strike more than 100 iron stacks in the east blew out Alabama blew in one additional Following the outlaw strike many eastern furnaces blew out, the Carnegie Company alone having twenty-five idle ores. Alabama has blown in three ad. ditional ones. the T. c. T. two and the sloss-sheffield Steel and Iron one Feature of the week in the industria world was blowing in of the second battery of the Sloss-Sheffield by-product | oNSuS nut pldteS tHlS new plant IT full operation and adds it to the long list of the districts distinct achieve. ments.
 The coal output for the week ending April g was 299.O0O tons compared te 2SS.o00 during the preceding veek
 Coke is In keenest demand As ia, away as Minnesota points have vainly sought to place orders in the Rfrming. ham district Little spot coke develops | Dria ef1 e3o- hand picked
 ALL PIPE SHOPS BUSY
 All the pipe plants are as busy a. can be and the new ones are rushing construction so as to be in the game a. soon as possible. Birmingham's entrants are the plants of the Birmingham Pip, and Fittings and the Kilby Pipe ano Fittings. Both these plants already show well above ground and will be malSins pipe some time in July, at the latest When all the new sanitary plants fl Birmingham, Bessemer, Gadsden. Talla. dega and Anniston are in operation, Ala. bama. already the leading sanitary pipe maker in the nation, will have doubled its capacity in that field Anniston which leads all cities, will maintain hel lead. with greater margin still Other important industrial events o1 the week were the launching of tn, Iourth 3.UU-ton ail-Alabama steel freigh ter at the yards of the Chickasaw Ship building and Car Company and that O. the tow boat Montgomery for the War rior river service, at JeffersonviIle, Ind
 Announcement of interest Tuesday wa. that the Alabama Clay Products Com pany will begin work this week on g plant at Lewisburg for the manufacture of fireproofing, building block and silos Harry Watkins is president
 The car congestion is expected to bt at least partially relieved by the effort. of the Birmingham terminal committee recently appointed by the Interstate Commerce Commission