Evening star., 1941-05-07
0. P. NJ. Official Talks
With Steel Operators
On Production
Demand for Immediate
Demand for Immediate
Increase in Facilities
Moy Be Made
BY the Associated Press.

NEW YORK. May 7-At the re-
quest of the Office of Production
Management executives and dele
gates of the Nations iron and steel
industry met today to discuss steel
production in relation to The Ma
tlonal defense program.
Top point of the session, closed
to the public, was expected by some
circles to be a Government demand
for immediate increases in steel pro-
duction facilities. p
Coupled with that probably would
be a sharp reduction in quotas ef
steel allowed to flow into nom
defense work. it was indicated.
Government officials have dIscoV-
cred that orders for steel are piling,
up on top of or behind the huge;
backlogs and are said to feel that
more or bigger plants would be tie
only answer to increasing demandz@
Called to meet with an o. P. NJ.
representative were $50 top-flieht :
steel executives. virtually 100 per
cent of the industry.
They expected immediate result
of the meeting to be an industry
wide committee to expedite steel p
production, at o. P M. suggestion.
The discussion of capacity, a a
critical point now and the biggest
subject in any meeting of steel maxi
ers, probably would be off-the---
record, they said. e
Steel men have been revising pre-
vious stands on further plant ex-
pansion, and this week Chairman
Irving S. Olds of United States
Steel commented his company
would be willing to expand if neces.l
sary to defense. =
There are at least three reasons :
why the o. P. NJ. feels more steel
will be needed.
New Plants Ready. =
There are number Of new de-
fense plants about ready TO go into.
operation and these will need steel
among other materials to feed their
machines, which President Roose-
welt wants them to operate pa hours
a day. seven DAYS a week" -.
| The railroads are faced with a ?
possible skyrOCketing demand for
car space stemming from three
sources: The United States crop
movement season is near; the rail-
roads have been told they may have
/ to carry COast-to-Coast much Of
the tonnage now moving by water
/ through the Panama Canal IN order
/ that the ships may be used for aid
to-Britain: national defense ma
teriaI movement is increasing daily. .
/ The steel industry will be called on
1 for new railroad equipment.
! Inventory control or even manda-
| tory priorities won't increase tire
total amount Of steel available, Il
/ was pointed out. "
Operation Index Advances.
The demand for steel is made
/ greater by hints that new ordnance -
/ factories may be built Arms manr-
I facture by present plants is also in
! creasing the demand.
The steel mill operation rate this
week has been estimatd at 963 Per
cent Of capacity, jump Of 25 points
/ from the previous week ccasioned .~
| by renewed coal shipments and Ie-,
| opened furnaces The week before
it was 943 per cent and a month ,
earlier 993 per cent Of theoretical.
capacity. =
The men who expect a government
demand for more steel plants point
out, however. that even at 100 per,
cent of capacity, it would take sew
eral months TO fill present huge
backlogs of untitled orders from both.
defense and defense industries
Few Changes Forecast.
Steelmakers have been giving the =
green light to orders from plants
making the most necessary defenSs~
equipment under a system of volun-
tary priorities. Mandatory priority {.
control probably would make re!a-
/ lively few changes in the order IN
which steel deliveries are made, steel
men said.
At the same time the Govern
ment. in an attempt to eliminate
inequities and assure an even flow
of scrap iron and steel to consumers,
revised its schedule of fixed maxi
mum prices.
Price and Supply Administrator
Leon Henderson, in announcing the
schedule to replace that Of April 3,
indicated suggestions from sellers
and consumers brought about the