Evening star., 1941-07-30
Shortages Of Scrap
Threaten Schedules
In Steel Industry
Blost Furnace Program
Car Offer No Relief for
Immediate Situation
By the Associated Press.

by ire Associated Press.
NEW YORK, July 3o.-Shortage
Of steel scrap are Threatening steel
production, Iron Age. a trade pub
lcation, said today,
Steel companies, cooperating with
the o. p. NJ, have lust rigged up
plans for new plants to produce an
other 6,5OS,950 tons of pig iron
yearly, but these it is held. will not
relieve the immediate situation.
While the blast furnace program
will provide long-range answer to
some material shortages which are
now hampering steel production
the industry this week faced pos
slble shut-doWns or partial curtail-
ment of melting schedules due to
the ever-threatening lack of scrap, II
the publication said
Steps to Collect Scrap.
illustrating the severe need for
increased scrap supplies are steps
taken bv American Rolling Mill Co
and Wheeling Steel Corp. in organ
ling community drives for collect
ing scrap.
AT Portsmouth. Ohio. Wheeling
Steel this week lost about 1900 tons
OF ingots due to its inability to OBJ
tain the type of scrap needed to
maintain output of its furnaces.
At Columbus. Ohio, Government
sponsored meeting finally reached
the point of debating means of
speeding up the scrapping of auto
mobiles, step recommended more
than a month ago by the scrap
trade.
The steel industry is looking to
washington, which has assumed
complete control over the scrap
situation, for quick action to pre-
vent a decline in steel output.
May Decline to 80 Pct.
This week, however, estimates
that the national average of s,eeI
operations will decline as much as
10 points to around 80 per cent in
the fall months as result of the
scrap shortages are being made"
Orders received by the Natlon's S
steel mills in July were slightly
ahead of the heavy volume booked
In June, and in July the industry
again produced the largest tonnage
of metal in its history.
The review estimated steel ineot
output closed the month at around
% per cent Of capacity, a half point
under the preceding weeks rate. as
the result of equipment breakage
at medium sized plant.
Details of the o. P M. plan for
an ll.2 per cent increase in the
tndustry's existing pig iron capacity
of about 100000 tons yearly in
dicate that new blast furnaces will
be allocated to five companies, the
publication said.
New Furnaces Planned.
The ALLEGATION is said to provide:
-Four new furnaces at the Cleve-
Gadsden Ala plants of Republic
Steel Corp.
Two new furnaces at Inland Steel
Co.'S Indiana Harbor 1ndO plant.
One each at Bethlehem Steel Co.'S
JohnstoWn Pa and Lackawanna
IN. " plants.
One At Carneeie-Illinois Steel
Cos plant at Braddock. Pa.
One such furnace at the plant of
Colorado Fuel & Iron Co, Pueblo.
Colo.
Three More Furnaces.
In addition. three more blast
furnaces. taken from other steel
centers, are to be erected at Provo,
Utah, where Columbia Steel Co.. a
United States steel subsidiary, al
ready has one stack.
Building of the new blast fur
naces, plus enlargement of existing
furnaces, will increase pig iron
capacity in the United States by
6,508, $50 tons at cost of more than
Sl50,000000, which will come, for
the most part. from the Defense
Plant Corp. an r F. c. subsidiary"
the publication added. The problem
of getting the necessary steel, equip
ment and labor for carrying out the
blast furnace program has been left
largely to the steel manufacturers"