Evening star., 1936-03-25
ACTIVITY REEVES
At STEEL PLANTS
Operations Recover Quickly
From Flood Damage,
Iron Age States.
sauoM q
n AOwAn HOURS
BY the Associated Press.

NEW YORK, March 25.-"Opera-
tions in steel plants damaged by last
weeks disastrous floods have been re-
sumed With phenomenal speed" says
the Iron Age. Blast furnace activity
was hampered only slightly. and then
largely because Of interrupted trans
portation services.
A few open-hearth plants in the
seriously affected Pittsburgh. Wheel
ing and Johnstown district we're food
ed, but only in isolated instances will
output te curtailed for longer than q
few Gays.
Production Of steel ingots last week
was forced down to 54 per cent Of
capacity. a seven-point decline from
scheduled output Of 81 per cent. out
more thar half this loss will be re-
gained this week, when operations will
average So per cent Of capacity. This
is one point higher than the rate a
fortnight ago, and it Is now indicated
that production next week will top the
high output prior to the floods.
Steel production at Pittsburgh this
week is 20 per cent, compared with
scheduled rate last week Of 46 per cent
and a performance Of better than 2S
per cent. After three days OF 80 per
cent operations last week Wheeling
district output fell to So per cent and
is now only one point higher Phila-
delphia district production has been
t,x-4 iy1te 70 y
the closing of a small open-hearth
plant.
Few Orders Shift.
"Ingot schedules are higher in the
Chicago, Cleveland and valley dis
tricts, but not because Of the diver
sion Of tonnage from the flooded ter
ritory. Generally speaking, only minor
transferring Of orders to unaffected
mills has been reported, as finishing
units in the Cleveland, Buffalo and
valley territories are being pressed to
complete first-quarter contracts which
they already had. In some instances
mills in the flooded areas will be
forced to delay shipment OF some OF
the tonnage on their books until the
first week of April or later.
Demand for many forms of steel
this week Is being handled out Of
warehouses and shipments from mills
will again be under way long before
warehouse stocks reach an uncom-
fortably low point. However, the re-
quirements of the construction indus
try are increasing rapidly and food
rehabilitation throughout the East and
Middle West will unquestionably call
for large tonnages of structural steel,
piling, reinforcing bars and pipe.
Recently announced second-quarter
prices, with quantity differentials ap-
plying on bars, sheets and strip steel,
have not yet been given an adequate
test. Consumers are showing little in
terest in their forward requirements
and are much more concerned with
rounding out their present stocks at
shaded prices which prevailed until
recently. However. little or no busi-
ness Is now being taken on these terms
Business Concentrated.
An important result OF the quantity
differentials system will be policy of
consumers to concentrate their busi-
ness with one or two mills. This ten
dency is already apparent and steel
sellers are concentrating their sales
effort on quality and service in order
to secure the larger orders which will
enable consumers to take advantage Of
maximum quantity deductions.
Sellers Of iron ore, in quoting on
the Ford Motor Co. inquiry for 100000
tons, have indicated that last years
prices will be reaffirmed. The IRON
Age composite prices of pig iron and
scrap are unchanged at 1884 and
sl4.75 gross ton, respectively, while
the finished steel price index is hold
int at 2.084 cents a pound"