Evening star., 1933-05-13
STEEL PRODUCTION
ADVANCES FURTHER
Gains in Orders Have Re-
suited in Step-up in
Operations.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, May I3.-The upward
sweep of production. prices and pur-
chases in the iron and steel industry
has not yet been checked, says Iron
Age. While gains in steel output have
not been SO general as in recent weeks,
and an actual recession Is reported In
the South, further increases have taken
place in the valleys and at Buffalo, Chi
cago and Pittsburgh, raising the ma
ttonal average to 81 per cent from 20
per cent q week ago. Growing price
strength is manifest in additional ad-
the prospect Of a general upward re-
vision of quotations ON finished steel
products for third quarter.
Buying. stimulated by rising prices,
Is coming from an ever widening circle
OF consumers. Many users who have
not been IN the market for q year or
more are fastening to place orders. A
Tightening Of deliveries on certain prod
ucts, especially those consumed by the
automobile industry, Is probably as i'm
portant factor as prospective price
increases in influencing buyers to re-
plenish their depleted inventories.
Deliveries Rushed.
The extent that steel consumption
Is keeping pace with output is dim
cult to measure. Steel sold to the motor
car makers is obviously going into al
most immediate use. Mills are being
pushed to rush deliveries to meet aug
mented automobile production sched-
ules. and these promise to bring May
output up to 100000 cars as compared
with 10000 In April. A Detroit dis
trict steel company, which has been
running at capacity. has been forced
to buy additional semi finished steel
from outside sources
Although the automotive industry
Is apprehenSive Of q Summer recession
In demand. this fear is tempered by
the knowledge that the forces set in
motion by the sharp squirt in motor
car demand are far-reaching in their
effects. Increased employment in steel
mills, foundries and rubber plants and
gains in traffic on the railroads, wa
terways and highways are building up
buying power and restoring confidence
throughout the Central West Whether
for these or related reasons. q steadily
increasing number Of miscellaneous out
lets for steel have become active Among
them are producers Of washing ma
chimes, metal sinks, beer bottle cases,
stoves. indicative of this broadening
Of consumption is the fact that sheet
mill output going to the automobile
industry Is declining in percentage, al
though still increasing In quantity.
The fact nevertheless remains that
the steel industry Is still getting its
main support from consumers OF the
lighter products. Fabricated structural
steel awards for the week total only
4,7o0 tons. Railroad buying, hereto
fore at minimum, shows signs Of
picking up. The Pennsylvania has con-
traeted for 10000 to $4,000 tons of rails
and the New York Central will soon
place Il, 1000 tons. A purchase Of 225
tons OF plates by the Pere Marquette for
car repairs may be the forerunner of
many orders for similar work by other
roads.
Prices Advanced.
Manufacturers Of refractories are
being pressed to fill orders from steel
producers who were unprepared for the
recent upturn in business and are has
tening to rehabtlitate their Furnaces
equipment. Several mill contracts Just
placed by Western companies to mod
ernize their tin plate producing facili-
Ties are significant Of the change in
polht OF view that has come about in
the brief period of q few weeks.
advances In heavy melting steel at
Pittsburgh, Chicago and Philadelphia
have raised the Iron Age scrap compos-
lite from $9.42 to 1888 a gross ton.
An increase Of 81 a ton on Eastern
Pennsylvania pig iron and an advance
on Buffalo iron for Eastern shipment
have raised the Iron Age composite
price for pig iron from $l4.10 to $l433
gross ton, the highest average since
April, 1882. An advance Of so cents
ton on Chicago iron Is imminent.
The Iron Age composite price for fin-
ished steel Is unchanged at 1857 cents
a pound"