Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-30
OUTLOOK IN STEEL
I. DECLARED BETTER
Gain in Ingot Production and
Higher Scrap Prices Held
Encouraging.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, July 30.-An out-of-
, season gain in ingot production, con-
tinued buoyancy in scrap and the de-
cision of the Steel Corporation directors
to maintain wage rates are regarded as
constructive factors in an exceedingly
- Quiet iron and steel market, Iron Age
says in its weekly review OF the IN
dustry.
, "Steel plant operations have risen at
. Cleveland, Buffalo. Youngstown and IN
, the Wheeling district" the review says,
land ingot production for the country
at large now averages 80 per cent, as
against 80 per cent a week ago. The
, upturn has come at an unusual tlme-
Midsummer-and follows an unbroken
decline since March. 1t is difhcult to
assign a reason for the change unless
it be that steel output dipped below
the rock bottom requirements OF the
r, country. And 1t is too early to foresee
whether the gain will be followed by
4. further increases or by relapses TO
lower rates.
a.. Reduced Auto Schedules.
1.-THE closing of the Ford plants
from July 81 through August and the
sharply reduced schedules OF other
motor car makers next month certainly
do not augur we'll for automotiVe con-
sumption of steel in the immediate
future Tin plate output, which has
been the brightest spot in the iron and
steel situation, likewise is an unfavor-
able factor. having declined further TO
a SIS to go per cent rate, with addi-
tional curtailment in sight. Blast
furnace operations also still point
downward, with three stacks reported
put out during the week-tWo at BIZ
OF
, "The conviction that business Is slow
". If almost imperceptibly, on the mend
p. is read into the action OF the steel
% CORPORATION directors in maintaining
wage rates, after a reduction had been
- almost universally forecast. Possibly
the fact that the corporations operat-
.- ing rate has risen from recent low OF
' 80 per cent to approximately "a per cent
of capacity turned the scales against a
" step that would probably have been taken
if an indefinite continuance OF I'M
profitable operations seemed to be IN
prospect. At any rate, the corporations
. report is widely interpreted as an IN
y dication of faith in the future, and
should operate to restore the repeatedly
" shaken confidence of industry in gen.
eral.
%. Construction continues to account
for a substantial portion OF the exist
for some of the larger projects placed
earlier in the year-for example. the
Radio City. New York, taking $4,000
tons-is now being rolled and shipped
In addition. a fair volume OF new work
is being placed and is coming up Tor
bids.
New Projects.
- New fabricated steel projects, at
SIS 900 tons, include freight terml-
nal, and an elevated structure for the
New York Central in New York, 81, 500
tons. Another New York Improvement
soon to be contracted for will take
10 900 tons of 18-inch seamless pipe.
"A 200-mile, 20-inch gas line to be
awarded in Texas calls for 10000 tons
of steel, while a prospective 125 to $50
mile oil line in the same State will re-
quire $4,000 tons"
The Iron Age composite price for
steel scrap has again advanced, being
now $9.42 a gross ton, against 1925
= week ago and $9.08 a month ago. The
finished steel and pig iron composites
are unchanged, at 2116 cents
pound and $15.54 ton, respectively.