Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-23
OUTLOOK IN STEEL
INDUSTRY BETTER
Long Decline in Shipments
Shows Signs of Near
ing an End.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, July $50 little is
July falling off from June in respect to
shipments that hopefulness of decided
turn for the better by September Is
spreading through the producing end
of the steel industry, Iron Age says in
its weekly iron and steel review.
THE operating rate for the whole
country" the review says, has dropped
2 points in the week, or to 80 per cent
of ingot capacity. but the belief is now
very general that present levels OF out
put will continue through August with
out material change.
Cause of Curtailment.
Reduced requirements of the auto
mobile builders, the completion OF rail-
contracts and the falling off in large
gas and oil line projects account largely
for the curtailment Two blast furnaces
are scheduled TO go out at Ensley TINS
week and one steel company stack may
be banked in the Chicago district. The
automobile industry will reach the low
of the year in August. with production
expected not to exceed 1880 cars.
Construction enterprises are sustain
ing factors, such as a fairly large move
ment of bridge and building work and,
in the case of Reinforcing steel, Of
road work and public Improvements.
Tin-plate consumption is also strong
porting influence. although tin mill
output has fallen rather sharply to a
go per cent rate after weeks OF approx
mately 65 per cent gait.
The movement to stabilize prices
gained by the wide adoption last week
of reduction of 81 a ton for bars,
plates and shapes. In the case of bars.
particularly some revisions downward
arfc rad ~
mage so affected was probably not very
great and following so shortly the new
classification and prices for sheets that
seem to have been accepted almost with
out deviation, the price action respect
ing the heavy tonnage products has had
the effect of measurably improving sem
timent.
Current buying is not calculated. by
its volume to put the price structure to
a severe test, yet in the instance OF
sheets, large consumers seem willing to
make forward commitments on the new
sheet basis. And as regards the new
higher price OF 81 80 keg for wire nails
to jobbers, some few contracts have
been closed that were difficult to make
when $1.80 was the prevailing figure.
Strength in Scrap Prices.
Primary materials are featured by
further evidences of strength in scrap
prices. At Pittsburgh heavy melting
steel has advanced Is cents a ton for
the third consecutive week. The same
grade is stiffening in the youngstown
district, while at Pittsburgh Blast Fur
mace grades rose 81 and at Cleveland
so cents a ton.
Pig iron melt in New England has
taken the first upturn in many months
and sales have been in better volume
at both Boston and New York.
New projects requiring fabricated
structural steel at 49,500 tons are more
than twice in volume the tonnage of
the two previous weeks. Awards were
about 1900 tons.
The Iron Age composite price for
steel melting scrap has made the sec
ond advance since its 30year low,
$908, was reached late in June. 1t is
now 1925 a gross ton. The pig iron
composite dropped cents to S15.54,
a new low since late 1915, and the
finished steel composite has receded
to 2.11 cents a pound from the 2.137-
cent level held for three weeks.