Evening star., 1923-01-27
WAVE OF BUYING !.
..SWEEPS.COUNTRy
Manufacturers Hasten to Fill
Requirements Through Fear
of Higher Prices.
BY J. C. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, January 27.-Manufac-
turers are buying today in even heavier
volume than they are selling. The up
ward trend Of prices in certain COM
modities has become SO unmistakable
that manufacturers are rushing into the
market in a vigorous effort to supply
their. future requirements before the
actual price advances become effective.
AS consequence what might normally
be dull season fer the railroads finds
them pressed to the utmost and turning
back business for lack Of equipment to
handle it,. These facts were fully con-
firmed by dispatches from various sec
tions Of the country received here today.
Automobile manufacturers are buying
steel sheets in tremendous quantities.
one maker is seeking offers to fill his
entlre requirement for the year, accord
ing to reports from Detroit. Oil men
are buying pipe and tank materials in
exceptional volume. Pittsburgh and
youngstown report. Cotton mills are
| taking the raw staple as fast as they
| can buy il and get it delivered to the
| spindles.
Lumber Shipments Heavy.
! Furniture dealers all over the country
| are. increasing their plants and buying
| raw materials for a heavy sales drive
later in the year. Officials of the Pere
Marquette railroad reported today that
! the volume of lumber going into Grand
! Rapids was 100 per cent above ship
| ments year ago. while finished prod
ucts going out show an increase Of only
| 9 per cent.
Lumber mills, both in the south and
on the Pacific coast, are booking orders
| far faster than they can saw the logs,
and shipments are well below new bust
| ness. Railroad repair shops are manned
! rully, and the equipment manufacturers
| are booked months in advance. Skilled
! laDor is In demand in nearly every in
dustry. with the steel workers and
| tailors in special demand. Middle west
ern manufacturers also report a short
age Of unskilled labor.
| While the response to the opening Of
the fall lines Of the American Woolen
Company has not been made public
| officially. IL is understood that jobbers
and the garment trades have bought
briskly and that the leading wooden
! clotn manufacturer has sold heavily in
some lines. 1t is expected that these
lines will be withdrawn from the market
! in the near future.
| Cotton Goods Sales Rushing.
| Cotton goods are being sold in
| tremendous volume throughout the
south and west in anticipation of
| splendid demand. especially for the
! Easter trade, and manufacturing has
! not been checked by the steady prices
maintained in general for the raw
| product.
While the consumer will be called
| upon to pay fairly substantial ad-
vances in clothing as a result of the
| increased costs of materials, retail
| ers are striving 20 keep these ad-
vances, within the lowest bounds pos
| sible.
Rubber, after rising to high fig
ures during the week, dropped down
slightly to the 36-cent level. at which
British producers hope to hold. 1t.
! Tire manufacturers continue to op-
eratu at approximately 90 per cent
OF capacity, piling up surplus stocks
| for the spring demand.
Buyers of carpets and rugs for the
| larger retail houses throughout the
| country are active in this market at
present. Mills are closely booked and
| experts assert that many have ac-
| ceptsd SO many orders that they will
be unable to fill only from rs to so
! per cent of the bookings.
! Non ferrous metals closed the week
| in excellent positions. The domestic
! demand for copper has been heavy
| and the lead market is very firfn:.
Zinc Is in small supply. Demand for
! seeds has begun to make itself. felt
| throughout some of the southern
| agricultural states. . -.
| copyright. 1921 ----