The Washington herald., 1922-10-23
Steel OUTPUT
Production Runs Fal
Ahead Of Early Es-
Inmates.

PITTSBURGH. Pa. Oct f3.-Last
March and April some Observers
with long experience In the steel
trade stated that they found Il i'm
possible to discern Q stage Of .ac-
tivity In steel consuming indus
tries generally that would absorb
the quantities Of steel then being
bought. Their explanation Of the
apparent anomaly was that buyers
were fortifying themselves against
curtaiiment Of production. later In
the year. by the coal strike and
possible railroad congestion after
the coal strike should end. In the
retrospect, however. It 10 seen that
there was but little curtaiiment in
steel production. taking the high
rate In June ~ q standard, while
production to date has been higher
than the rate At any tins prior to
April 1.
AZ to railroad congestion, this has
been very serious: also embargoes
have shut on shipments largely or
entirely In the case Of some con-
sum.rs. but the total amount Of steel
piled 1t the mills 10 small compared
with the piles that existed at the
middle OF 1890. The existence of
stocks Of considerable sise in the
hands OF sons consumers 10 there
fore suspected.
DEMAND fer Structural steel.
Building activity has been chiefly
In garage and dwelling house con-
struotion. involving very little cteel.
reiativs to cost Of the buildings. a.
compared with steel consumption In
fabricated steel construction. What
may be considered the seasons rec
ord Is completed by the Department
OF Commerce report of fabricated
structural steel awards In septem-
ber. The September awards w.re
SIS per cent of the fabricating shop
capacity. against ss.s per cent for
April. while the average for the six
months. April to September. inclu-
sive. was 7o.s per cent. In a genu-
Inc revival after the 1871 depres-
sion one would expect the awards
to excsed the capacity for q time
April was the high month Of the six
With coke 20 extremely scarce In
the open market. upon which many
OF the merchant blast furnaces in
the North must depend. resump-
tion Of pig-iron production has
seemed to be an extremely slow and
tedious process. but the fact 10 that
by this time there has been O very
fair resumption. Cherry Valley fur
mace, Leetonia. Ohio. was lit last
Monday morning. and McKeefrey. at
the same point, 10 scheduled for re-
sumption.
Fig I-oa Prices Lower.
When almost all the merchant fur
uaces were out Of blast. pig iron
prices as quoted in the open market
rose TO remarkable levsls, say ss4
to $ss. furnace. but there was
scarcely any buying. Apparently
consumers were unable to pay prices
asked. Whsn furnaces resume and
start making deliveries on old pur-
chases inquiry in the open market
is naturally not stimulated. The ar
gument as to cost of production.
which frequently does not impress
consumers, has disappeared as Con-
nellsville coke has started to tum-
BILE in price.
Latest asking prices on pig iron
are s33 for Bessemer. $50 for basic
and s32 for foundry, {. o. b. valley
furnaces. but there seems TO be no
disposition whatever to pay these
prices. and asking prices are likely
to subside gradually until a trading
basis can be found. One guess is
that the eventual level will be be-
tween s22 and s25. comparing with
SIS for basic and sls for foundry
ruling early in the year. The de-
cline would require several weeks
time. perhaps, until the end OF the
year.