Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-16
BIG COPPER FIRMS
AGREE ON MERGER
News of $3.50, 100000 Com
bine Comes on Heels of
Price Cut.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, April 16.-Copper prices
toppled yesterday from 10 to IA cents
pound, just as the news came out that
the Phelps-Dodge Corporation, the
Calumet & Arizona Mining Co. and the
Nickles Copper Co. had merged into a
$3.50, 100000 organization, the third
largest copper producer in the world.
Copper leaders have tried to maintain
prices, but with more than billion
pounds of copper on hand-about a
half-year's supply-the thing couldn't
be done. So the drop has come.
Digging into the figures furnished by
the United States Bureau of Mines
and the Department of Commerce. we
for 1929 is estimated at 1,015,0O0 tons;
while the United tSates consumption
was approximately 1,078,500 tons, almost
an ideal balance.
But the United States imported 4S7,-
156 tons, mostly from the copper mines
in Chile. owned by the Anaconda and
Kennecott Cos.
The United States consumes Just
about half of the copper produced In
| the world. OF the total production for
1929, 136,02l tons-the United States
| consumed about half Of it. leaving a
little over million tons for the rest Of
the world.
This price cut will probably be fol-
lowed by reduction of dividends by the
larger copper companies.
! The copper mines of Chile and South
Africa can produce and lay down copper
in New York harbor at about cents
pound. No American copper mine can
begin to do that. With no tariff on cop
| per today, these foreign mines could
| flood the American market, and cause
every copper mine in the United States
| to close down and thousands of Ameri-
can workmen to be thrown out of work.
Here's one place where a tariff would
| help-mightily. Then, why not and so
| protect American labor and American
| busineSS?" asks Frank Armstrong, New
| York copper leader
The subject deserves more attention
than it has received by Congress.
Sugar supplies continue to pile I'D.
The Bureau of Economics of the United
States Department of Agriculture re-
| ports that the worlds visible supply Of
sugar is greater than any previous
year"
Sugar supply has been increasing
steadily since 1922, excepting only
drop of about one million short tons
in the 1925 crop.
The l929-30 combined cane and beet
sugar crop is a record excepting only
/ last years. Stock carryover was very
heavy from 1929 and world consump-
ton will not consume all Of this years
product.
So sugar stocks in the United States.
Cuba, France and Netherlands are
particularly heavy. Says the United
| States Government:
Visible stocks at the beginning of
the present sugar season at all United
States ports, Canada, Cuba, the Philip
pine Islands, Java and nine important
sugar producing countries Of Europe
were more than 100000 short tons in
excess Of stocks at the beginning Of the
1928-29 sugar campaign"
World consumption has not kept up
with world production: hence the lower
prices In New York. the average whole
| sale price of raw sugar was 3.8 cents for
the year 1929, as compared with ~
cents for 1928, the lowest year In sugar
history, excepting only 1913, when II
! dropped to 3.5 cents a pound. On April
10 the price was 3.61 cents pound.
Yesterday refineries offered new low
of 3.39 cents pound, but no sales were
reported.
when sugar refineries learn 10 work
together-and not bootleg to destroy
prices-we'l all do better. Otherwise
nothing but chaos Is in store for US"
said Rudolph Spreckles, president OF
the Spreckles Sugar Refining Co., to
me yesterday.
In spite of two unfavorable factors
higher British income tax demands
and a sharp reduction In copper
prices-the stock market come back
| strong yesterday and gave better
account of itself at the end OF the
session than 1t did at the beginning.
Before noon it looked as though an
organized selling campaign was on 20
force prices down to lower levels. The
bear leaders were encouraged by the
copper price drop, which was an
nounced early.
But the selling dried up before noon
and aggressive buying began again IN
many of the leaders, like Westinghouse.
United States Steel. American Can and
| General Electric.
| Even copper stocks showed up we'll
Anaconda holding its own, showed no
change for the day and closed at III
on a turnover of 10000 shares; Ken
necott nearly as well, closed only u
| of a point of from the day before
on a turnover of 10000 shares. Nevada
Consolidated closed at 26k, OF less
than a point on a 25,000-share turn
over.
The activity in the market, in view
! of conditions, is surprising. March
| showed total sales of 96,S26,1 20 shares,
| only slightly under the record Of last
year. April is keeping up almost to
| last years record.
But the surprise of yesterdays mar
| ket was the rally of the coppers IN
view Of the Accent drop in the price.
! Copyright 1890 by the North American