Douglas daily dispatch., 1928-01-29
Weekly Copper Reuiew
BY CHARLES F. WILLIS
Editor. The Mining JournaD

The metal market is quiet, having
neither extensive or slow buying,
merely travelling along at good aver
age gait. Copper stays at 1890 to
the producers although there are occa-
cional customs smelter" offering at
an eighth cent under the market Lead
sticks close to $50 and zinc at 5.65.
The present copper situation pro-
vides two distinct and separate mar
kets; that of the custom smelters
whose policy is to convert their metal
immediately into cash, and the market
of the producer who is refusing to sell
his copper unless he gets his price.
Thus there will be a full eighth-cent
variation in quotations, the lower fig
ure representing what The custom
smelter is getting and the basis on
which the custom smelter will buy
ore.
The custom snelter, however. can
supply but a small percentage of the
copper necessary under normal buying
and the consumers have to come to
the producer end pay his price so that
the bulk of the copper is normally,
being sold at the price asked by the
producer and he is not at all inclined
to cut prices to get the business
There has been some price cutting
in the lead market coming largely
from people who bought long while
ago on speculation, but the quantity
offered at the reduced price was not
large and it was Immediately snapped
up. Lead sales are generally slow
with no great interest in the market,
current and future quotation remain
ing the same.
The tendency in zinc is to drop
further in price and it is evident that
the producers are not looking for
much better market as the quotations
as far ahead as May and June de-
liverv are 5.65. Some zinc is now
coming into the market from Mon
tana production and this is having its
effect. Mine producers state that any
drop in the price will ilecessitate the
shutting down of some Of the plantss
even though it be an expensive pro-
cedure as. the price is at rock bottom
right now.
II is significant tSat it has been
the United States mines which nave
suffered from metal conditions during
the last year. In copper, lead ana
zinc. the world output increased, puG
the United States mines showed de-
crease in production In copper the
o,ltolt from United States m ne
totaled 83O,133 tons or decrease OF
42.376 tons from 1926 and 1884 tons
from 1925. In lead there was 10000
tons less produced in the United
states than in 1926 while there was
"a OOO tons more of lead produced IN
the world. In zinc there was Worlo
increase of five per cent and de-
crease in the United States OF 1our
per cent. 49,,
Practically all the writer's on the
copper situation bring forward the
statement that the greatest progress
made in the copper industry during
1927 has been in tsna more orderly
marketing and illustrating by the
progress made by the Copper ExporV-
ers, Inc, and the organization OF tne
COPPER institute for the purpose OF
getting better picture OF the 90
nestle copper situation.
Clinton H. Crane, president OF 81.
.Josephs L e company, summarizes
the 1927 lead situation as tolloWs:
"First a world production greater than
the maximum in 1925, despite
dininution in the United States out
put; second, an apparent consumption
greater than the record OF 1875, al
though the. American consumption was
a great deal less; third, London lead
prices approximately % per cent less
than during the year before ana 81
per cent less than those OF the peak