The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1921-02-17

the 1920 price movement In pig lead
10 is necessary to go back to Novem-
! Der IL and - 1919. when the peak OF
O. the upward trend for 1919 apparently
had been reached The Engineering
land Mining journal quoted on these
) two days S6.S5 per 100 pounds, New
York. by the first of December the
New York price had declined 81 per
tom, and the ST Louis price $3.50 and
} the domestic demand had greatly
slackened. 1t was just at this period.
however that the position of the lead
market changed completely. Although I
ON October 1 the oIndon price was I
t25 12s. Cd 10y December 8 il had /
advanced TO eiO per ton. and the .
market for lead had become a world .
market
AS the London price advanced. the .
Mexican production was sold i'm Lon
don instead of in New York. and the
price i'm the latter city rose to peak
of 9.S7iac per pound in March. and in
August to a lower peak of &c.
ON March II the London price.
translated into United States currency /,
at the current rate of exchange
amounted to S.35c per pound 1t was
ON this date that the long downward {
trend in London started and the price
steadily fen until i'm December. 1920. {
ii reached 3.S5c per pound. a drop of
Sc per pound during the nine months. c
The price in the United States. af- L
ter reaching its peak in March. grad S
ually followed the London price down. {
until July 10, when the active domes- C
tic demand not only advanced the g
price i'm New York. but also caused a X
marked strengthening of quotations i'm p
London. AT this time in a short per
iod of two or three weeks, probably
10000 tons of pig lead was bought for
shipment to American consumers and
distributors. and for the first time i'm
years large lots of lead could be and II
we're purchased for shipment to the II
-nited states from Mexico England.
australia. France Germany. and 9th
'r countries at "a price which. with
iuty and freight added. was less than Oh
The market ruling in New York.
During the second half of August
transportation i'm the United States
improved markedly. Though at least
5000 tons Of pig lead were on the
ails on August IS. by September Is
here was probably less than half this
mount 1t was just at this time that 80
he great activity in the automotive 'e'
Industry stopped abruptly and the TAI
forage battery companies were obIig-
d to reduce their orders for the i'm "
lediate future by more than so per ~
cnt and in some cases to cancel all -
hipments for a period of from 30 to 800
days. I'
The arrivals of pig lead in the Unit o'
d states during the first eight
lonths of 1920 averaged less than no
500 long tons per month. In Septem-
en- the reported arrivals were 1916 e"
ing tons, and in October 1890 long PFC
ms, an average monthly increase of
yer 5000 long tons. Sol
In the face of adverse conditions in can
most every lead consuming indus sif
~ the New York price rapidly fell at
ON S.90c per pound on September 8 sto
l.5Oc per pound on December IS. so 300
at the close of the year ended the itai
lportant postwar price movement 4
hich had lasted from May 1919. to min
@ end of 1920. and
Although it may be true that the 5
1rld price in the early months of 1920 moi
as materially increased by specula- frol
IN, many other important factors in STA.
fenced the market England i'm Ind
rted from Spain during the first ten turn
)nths of 1920 about $4,000 gross the
rs, almost exactly the same amount to
in 1919, but during the first four beir
'nths of 1920 imports from Spain sold
gregated 600 long tons, as against weil
600 for the same period in 1919. The bein
stralian production was greatly first
tailed by strike conditions During was
first ten months of 1920 England its
eived slightly less than $4,000 long The
IS from Australia, as against $500 ing
the same period in 1919. The Unit traI
States production was below nor 6.
!, due largely to labor shortages in arriV
mining districts. These conditions weie
1bined with the congestion of the as a
importation in the United States, T..
'e mainly responsible for the high man
,es during the first three quarters and
1920. ston,
ne of the interesting results of the 3.
w importations Of pig lead was size
change in the relationship between Ural
New York and St Louis markets the
competition of foreign lead fore 6A ]
The New York price down to a level En-
the st. Louis price, so that the flush
'ket for pig lead in cities in the trem
trail Freight association territory the
higher than in New York City just
roduction-The production of pig cure
in the United states has declined
e 1916 when the peak of 1924 A
was reached. in FL
he decline in 1919 was by far the
t important. There was slight Dis
ease in production in 1920, but it excel
Id seem that unless large new flatir