Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-02-05
FOREIGN BUILDING
MATERIALS ARRIVE
Shipments to U. S. Indicate
Revival in Construction
Work This Spring.

| Foreign made building materials are
| beginning to make their appearance al
various ports in the United States. in
dicating prompt resumption of build
ing construction this spring. says the
current Dow report.
! Persons representing themselves tc
:; have European brick manufacturing
| connections have been in the New
| York market offering Danish brick toI
use in American building constructor
operations at a price below the current
quotations for domestic building brick
it is stated There have been bclgiatl
steel and glass offered in this market al
prices which have been considerably pc
low the levels governing domestic prod ,
ucts of this sort But the latest ana
most aggressive foreign building ma :
terial drive is that of German cement.
Norwegian lumber has been offered. &C
cDrding to reports in the trade. IN com
petition with Douglas fir from the tacillc
coast
Owing to the high rate of exchange
between this and foreign countries snip
ping interests have been facing me
problem of bringing their ships hack to
America with something else besides
sand and gravel.
Hunting Markets I'm L. :.
"For almost a wear representa- tives of
building material manufacturing inter-
csts have been coming to TINS country
to see what this market offered IN the
way of sales opportunity, the report as
errts They arrived when building ma
tcrial prices We're at their peak iaSl
summer and early autumn. as reported
in this column at the time. Ihey We're
then told by financiers. according TO the
current building trade gossip. that tttFc
was a great opportunity Tor the sale OF
building material here, that it was too
high in price and that no loans would
he made upon building projects until
prices were reduced.
1.-The fact was then brought out about
the empty or almost empty "eSt-boud
shipping bottoms that could bring over
vast quantities of basic building ma
terials as ballast They were encour-
aged about the New York market for
German cement, Belgian steel and
glass Danish brick and Norwegian
lumber.
Europe. however. was having its la
Dor difficulties at that time and doneS-
tic housing conditions there took heavy
account of practically all the material
that could be produced. This foreign
building material In ballast began to
come into this market, therefore. after
the heavy manufacturing costs OF last
year began to go down. so as to make
it possible for the American building
material manufacturers to cut their
prices to the consumer.
business liz Picking Up.
"But in the falling market. building
material purchasing stopped. 1t con-
tinued to be at a standStill until about
ten days ago. when the curve began to
turn upward.
"In the meantime. this ballast building
material flowed in in varying quanti-
ties. heavier. in some lines on the Paci-
tic coast than in this market. German
;.. b., ~,
trades here today along with Belgian
glass and other foreign commodities
used in building construction only to
find itself in competition with Ameri-
can-made building materials of recog-
niZed form and standards on "A baS Sc
price aggrepating 35 per cent below
their cost when the foreign sales am
bassadorS came over here to sell for
the erection of American homes build
ing material manufactured in a coun-
try with which we are still technically
at war.
THE serious side of this phase Of
the already entangled building ma
terial and construction situation Is
that it is likely to be seized upon by
some prospective building investors
as a reason for keeping out of the
construction market.
Material Costs Coming Down.
"If American building material mills
were oveIproduced and were carry
ing large stocks which they could
not sell there might be basis for
this hope. American building ma
terial manufacturers are not over
stocked. If the exchange rate would
remain stationary. 1t might also con-
vey hope to the hesitant building in
weston. There are no such assurances.
american building material manu-
featuring costs are coming down.
Retail delivered building material
prices are therefore lower Latest
price reductions show linseed oil and
plaster at lower levels. The reduction In
plaster prices represent a drop ~
i2a cents a bag in manufacturing
costs and 81 y cents a bag Owo bags
to barre) in cooperage stock. This
is equivalent to a So cut in neat wall
cement and finishing plaster and so
cents bag for plaster in bur1ap'