The copper era and Morenci leader., 1922-02-24

The future of the Copper Industry IS Influenced by many unm aasured factors. Certain worldwide tendeh- cles are evident, but the effect of such tendencies in individual coun- trles Is. obscure. A revival of the domestic industry during the first half of 1922 is expected by some, but IS mainly dependent upon general business revival here and in Europe
 Recently much has been said about | new uses for copper, the increased electrifcation and the return of cop per to it's old place in the building l industry and the household, but. be- cause Of the time necessary for the | development of these uses. it appears that in the immediate future the con- sumption of copper will be almost entirely limited to the present fields.
 Despite the low price of copper, ex- ports of copper and it's manufactures in 1921. including those to Japan, probably will not have exceeded 65O.- | 100000 h., which is considerably be- low the annual exports from 1907 to 1913. Germany was our largest pre-
 war customer, but her buying power is now greatly restricted and will 1 probably continue to be for some 1 time. It therefore appears unlikely i that the export market will greatly improve for some time
 In considering the capacities of do- 1 nestle and foreign markets, the re-
 lation of present domestic produc- tive capacity to potential consump-
 tion is of interest. At the pre-war | rate of increase, normal domestic
 consumption in 1922 should be about 1 1.100,00O,000 lb., and from the pres
 ent outlook it is unlikely that this figure will be exceeded
 The present productive capacity of domestic mines is at least 2,00O,- 100000 h., and the refinery capacity at least 2,50O, 100000 ID. The excess of refinery capacity is for copper from foreign mines which are likely
 to operate at as full capacity as the domestic mines. If mines and refin- cries operate at full capacity in 1922
 or 1923. about 1.400 0O0, ,000 ID. will be available for eXport-more than our foreign markets are likely to absorb ' annually for long time to come. 1t appears, therefore, that revival of the domestic mining and metallurgical industry will be gradual.
 The more distant future of the in. dustry is obscure. The domestic l market apparently has many possibi ? 1ities. among which is the creation 5 of new uses for copper. The cam :. paign conducted for this purpose al ready appears to be meeting with
 slight success. and may accomplish
 more than is now considered possible
 In household uses copper is apparent
 lv meeting with a worthy rival il
 Mouel metal, which, from all that car
 be learned. may prove to be more suit
 a h1a SIph than al ] minimum. and can. compete in price with either. The ultimate economy o
 copper roofing does not yet appear tt have enthused the majority of build
 CTS and no great increase in the ust | of copper roofing in competition witl d other roofing materials is to be OK e- pected under existing conditions. y Electrjfication of railroads is con e Sidered one of the greatest futur' Q uses of copper. According to past eX . peIience. 10000 h., of copper used pc C mile of single track electrified is r. very liberal estimate; in fact 5000 ih i- per mile is probably closer to tn k real consumption. For one mile o g double track much less is requiret T. than for two miles of single track el Power plants. substations. transmits d sion lines, and other equipmen neces e SdIY LO pOWSI lOl tlSCtl IhC Q. roads are estimated to requir
 less than 10000 lb., per mil
 of track electrified. and some of tn d lines most favorabIy situated fo
 identification would require les
 than those upon which the estimat
 is made Even assuming electrificf x tion for the next decade at the rat :, of 10000 ID. per mile and 4,000 mile
 per annum (two liberal assumptions]
 the maximum total requirements | ,l copper would not exceed 86,600,00 'N ID. per year.
 Electrical engineers. of the S6pel 's power Survey of the IT. s. Geologic
 Survey estimate that the amount an N rate of copper consumption in tn
 identification of factories and raj 'S ways in the "superpower zone" wi
 be such as to have little or no effet ~ upon the market price of the meta '' Hydro-electrical development. will col
 sume considerable copper. but wi
 be gradual. and the replacement raj V, in electrical apparatus is low.
 ~ It seems that the plumbing an ." smaIl-hardware industry offers tn , best field for increased domestic col t" sumption, and the replacement rat - in such field would probably | :n' higher than in most others. In tn '' connection a most hopeful feature
 the campaign against unreasonable r
 tail prices and the disposition
 1 large producers to enter the fabrtca q ing industry. Reduction Of cost m the ultimate consumer will probab ny do more toward increasing domest rs. consumption than any other thin st The eXDerience of certain steel cor ell panies is a notable case in point. le- Annther promising field for iDcrea >e- ing domestic consumption is in II ed elertrifcation of tools. individu
 tools and machines driven by indi'
 dnaI electric motors are far more ec di- nomical and satisfactory than nun
 Der of tools or machines driven fro