The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-25
By RICHARD F. JOHNSTON.


 Birmingham industries are not ex- CT cised about getting new business The problem now Is to make deliv- cries and care for regular GUS toners. The car shortage is handi- capping deliveries of maximum prod uct. Thre are more cars in service. but each producer wishes maximum quota a the same times.
 Steel production continues at q pace of as near 100. per cent as condition of machinery allows. The double turn at T. c. l. mills of vogue ule. The mills of the American Steel and Wire, the, Gulf States Steel and Corners Steel are on the sane basis and structural steel shops render similar report.
 The Fairfield car works of the T. C. l. received an order for 1,00C box cars from the Louisville and Nashville railroad ruring the week This plant has been active since it bo gan operation in July. 1921.
 Pig iron is strong at s27. Spot iron would bring more if more was asked. Lots of 5000 and 5000 tons were sold last week. the total busi- Louis and Chicago bought liberally and lot was sold in the south.
 Production has been increased by blowing in of the second stack of the Alabama company at Gadsden. The Oxmoor furnace of the T. C. I. will probably blow in about April 2 or 3 and Sloss- Sheffield will blow in a sixth stack in April. Production will then approximate the high water mark of May, 1917, when. 260.0 .000 tons were produced.
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 Alabama in Lead.
 The American Iron and Steel insti- tutes official production figures of 1922 show that Alabama iron led in the recovery from the slump. the in- crease of Alabama from production in 1922 being S474 per cent and the next nearest approach being Ohio with 70.65 per cent. The Alabama production in 1921 was 1.201.000 tons and in 1922 it was 2.23o,000 tons. Bank Clearing Record.
 Birmingham and Alabama are get ting in the habit of breaking records and leading in the percentage of in- crease in all sorts of operations. Birmingham led the nation in the week ending March 22 with 73.2 per cent increase in bank clearings and was the second city in the coun- try in the preceding week.
 The Birmingham pressure pipe shops are becoming overloaded With business, so much so that on some sizes deliveries are not promised until September. United States Pipe booked 200 tons for Rawlins, la, and 500 tons of to 12-inch sizes for Columbus, O. Work of installing a half dozen aditional De Bavaud ma chimes at the North Birmingha n plant is under way
 Sanitary pipe plants are boored to capacity for some time to come. The base is S15 for standard.
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 Pitch To Europe.
 Movement of 15,o0o te 2o,o00 tons of pitch to Wales. France. and other European points has been about completed, q ship heinz at Pensa- scla now for the last load. This pitch is used for binders for coal briquettes The latest heavy move l. ment has been from the American Tar Products company at Bessemer and the Barrett company at Fair field has been shipping the pitch all winter.
 High Grade Coke.
 The Barrett company is making 4.00O to 5000 tons of 9S per cent carbon coke out of pitch in beehive coke ovens at the Republic furnaces. This coke commands a much higher Irice than other coke on account of it's carbon contents. It is known in
  there is demand for every pound of production.
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 New Mill Coming.
 The Birmingham district as well as the southeastern trade at large will soon be enjoying the product of the 10 and 12-nch merchant bar mill of the Tennessee company at Fair field. It is hoped to have this plant in operation by the middle or latter rart of April. It is to make spe- c:alty of conore etc reinforcing bars, an iter, that is more and more in de- nand owing to the great increase in the use of concrete in structural operations. The new mill will have a capacity of 10000 round, square and deformed bars a month.
 More Cement And Lime.
 Construction both of the Lehieh and Phoenix Portland cement mills ncars completion. Both will cater to the wants of the southeast during the latter half of the year, perhaps lit