The Washington times., 1930-09-25
STEEL TRADE
RECOVERY IS
SUSTAINED
Trade Journal Sees improved
Market for Metal; Gradual
Recovery Thought Due

s hWSNtH NM ~ y
Recovery Thought Due
Improvement in iron and steel
demand, although not rapid, ID
nevertheless sustained, Iron Age
reports today in It's weekly sum,
mary Of the steel market.
Although much Of the better
ment is represented by future com.
mitments rather than orders for
current shipment, aggregate speci
fications are averaging close to is
per cent higher than in August
and for some steel sales offices are
running ahead of the volume Of a
year ago, when business was on
the decline.
The full extent Of the gain in
steel releases has been obscured
by the tardy response Of ingot out.
put to expanding rolling mill
schedules. Current steel ingot out
put at 81 per cent compares with
So per cent in the two previous
weeks. Earlier in the month, and
probably also in August raw steel
production was a step ahead OF
finishing requirements. With this
disparity removed, further IN
creases in finished steel business
should find quicker reflection IN
steel furnace operations.
Prices Stiffen
The growing interest in forward
buying has had the effect OF
stiffening finished steel prices.
Efforts of buyers to cover their
requirements through the first
quarter or first half Of next year
have met with little success, since
mills are disinclined to quote Tor
delivery beyond January !. on
fourth quarter business, as well
as orders for immediate shipment,
producers are insisting on better
prices than were recently current.
This is particularly true Of black
and blue annealed sheets, on
which price advances recently
announced are becoming estab-
lished market levels. Among the
heavier rolled products, bars are
showing greater strength, with
$I.65- a pound, Pittsburgh, repre-
senting an advance Of 81 a ton.
more commonly quoted. In the
East structural shapes are UP 81
a ton to 1.70c pound, Bethle-
hem.
The gain in steel bookings has
come largely without the aid of
the automobile industry and the
railroads, two of the largest con-
sumers. Considerable business
that had been deferred during
the summer is now coming into
the market. Indications are that
consumers stocks, In many cases,
had been so badly depleted that
replenishment was imperative.
Now that replacement buying has
become general and the tone of
prices Is improving, the incentive
to hold stocks to the minimum is
disappearing.
Pig Iron
1t is too early to estimate the
actual gain in steel consumption,
A number Of miscellaneous lines,
no doubt under seasonal stimulus.
are more active, among them the
radio, stove and range, steel bar.
rel and farm implement indus
tries.
Forward demand for pig iron
continues to expand and, while
it is doubtless prompted by the
belief that prices are low. its
initial effect has been to bring
out further breaks in the market,
In the Valleys, basic iron has de-
cllned 81 a ton and other grades
have dropped so cents q ton,
while at Ohio River points and
other Northern consuming centers
Southern iron, heretofore held at
$12, Birmingham, has receded to
$ll.5O. Scrap markets are ir-
regular and lacking In trend. al.
though weaker in their general
tone than recently.
Declines In pig iron at Pitts,
burgh and at Birmingham for
Northern shipment bring the
Iron Age composite price down to
$l6.46 a gross ton, the lowest
figure since late in 1915. An adj
vance on black sheets of 81 a ton
raises the composite steel price