New-York tribune., 1921-03-14
Dealers
Lower Cost
For Delivery
Announce a Recession of 5
p. c.; Cement Mills in
Lehigh District Start
Work; Others to Follow

What is generally considered to be
about the last expedient to meet the
expectations of the prospective builder
entering the construction market early
this spring is the reduction of Dealers
profit for brick delivery effective this
date to 10 per cent, instead Of Is per
cent, which was the former rate ac-
cordlng to the current Dow Service
Daily Building Reports.
In complement with this action upon
the part OF the distributors comes the
of resumption Of
cement mills in the Lehigh district.
"hlch IS the main source of cement
supply for this market and which rep
resents approximately one-third of the
national industry's annual OUTPUT Five
more plants will reopen in the near
future, the first being the Edison.
"hlch Will begin to operate again in
fifteen days. This action is to be fol-
lowed by the Hercules, Phoenix. Sc
curlty aud Vulcanite if the trend of the
building construction market continues
IN the way it is now headed.
In this connection two strong factors
developing within the last few days
may nave bearing. One of these is an
inquiry for ten carloads of cement from
western New York, to be delivered
within fifteen days following accent
ance. Another is the report from Con-
sui General A. A. Winslow. of New
Zealand which is the best official con-
lrmation of the development of the
foreign building material market pre-
Vlously reported in this column that
Eas so far come to hand.
New Zealand After Material
AT the last session of the Builde rs
Congress of New Zealand" writes Mr..
lnslow, mote was made of the
marked shortage of lumber. cement,
metals and builders hardware, which
was seriously curtailing construction
WORK IN general and especially the
ERECTION Of suitable homes.
No way seemed open to accom-
plIsh much toward relieving the imne-
dlate shortage Contractors
nave found it impossible to offer bids
tor construction work on any other
basis than that the owners pay the cost.
Plus 10 per cent. This was too ex-
penslve in many cases for the reason
that 1t was in the interest of the con-
tractor to make the building cost as
much as possible
Inc Builders Congress passed a
resolution to be sent to the govern
ment urging that customs duties en- i'm
ported materials used in building con-
structlon be suspended and that rail-
way rates on foreign (American) ma
terials be the same as on local lumber
importers of American lumber
have found themselves greatly handi-
capped owing to excess railway rates
on imported building commodities.
RESOLUTIONS were adopted asking the
New Zealand government to assist as
TAR as possible in securing building
supplies, especially cement, since local
production for the season is SAID to
have been short of normal"
. Similar confirmation is expected
! rom other foreign countries. show
ing that the pressure upon American
ouiioing material manufacturers later
enls year VII! be greater than is now
thought possible.
To Start Building of Homes
Inc first half of 1921 is to be the
naDitatlon builders heydey, both on
prlce and supply of building commodi-
Sies. ne VIII constitute practically the
only market for the building material
man hulacturer, who is at present hun
cry Tor business. Manufacturers will
not be so DESTROYS for smali-ouantjtv
business six months from now. if pres
ent economic tendencies run true.
No one can foreteIl what transporta-
ton facilities may be in the near fut-
lre, and many manufacturers are eau
tlonlng dealers to have a stock on hand
while they are still the dominant pur-
chasing power. Their command of
prices and delivery conditions wiz not
be of long duration after the turn of
the half-year. A single department of
the fortytwo basic items in the ma
terials market proves the trend of
events.
Shipments of cement from Zones
and were 80 per cent greater in Feb
ruary than in January. They exceed
the total movement of cement in 1920
by 10000 barrels 4 day. The three
largest companies having the grea test
resources at this date
have less than 1900 000 barrels of mar
ketable cement on hand. Last autumn
TO LET FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES