The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-10-19
BY BETSY BILANOW

/ w dSlilllS lOii VII n HC NCAS'i'N
program has already left its mark
on prices, but will have little direct
effect on civilian shortages before
Christmas.
That's the opinion of William
Henry Harrison, chief of the Ma
tional Production Authority. The
NPA has already given priorities
to the Defense Department and the
Atomic Energy Commission. 1t has
issued orders for the. steel industry
and will deal soon with other
metals including copper and alum
mum. It's directives have been
mild, and have drawn practically
no serious critisism from control
wary industry.
Meanwhile, here's how the sup
ply situation shapes up:
STEEL: Industry is breaking all
production records. On Oct. 10 it
was operating at 101.6 percent of
capacity. But that's still not en-
ough. During the years since World
War III, when the steel companies
should have been expanding as
rapidly as possible, they held back.
Now we'll pay the price in steel
shortages.
The oil industry is in bad need
of steel. SO are freight car manu-
featuring, coal mining, screws and
other fastenings, barge builders,
steel cabinet makers, and machin-
cry makers. Nash Kelvinator was
forced to reduce Kelvinator refrig
orator and electric range produc
tion Oct. IL because of steel short
ages. Auto manufacturer are wor-
ried that they will not get all they
need.
Stocks of industrial steel in the
nations warehouses have shrunk
40 percent in the last II months.
Companies are cutting quotas. The
gray market is booming. US Steel,
the largest producer, says it will
allocate to its civilian customers onI
the basis of their consumption dur
ing the period from Jan. l to thel
outbreak of the Korean war.
Men from the ranks of "Bigl
Steep are leading the NPA pro-
gram which is making the rulesl
for ALLEGATIONS. Rep. Emmanuel
Celler Cd, N.Y., chairman of thel
House Committee on Monopoly, has
urged that small fabricators get a
voice in the program. The small
producers, remembering what hap
pened during the last shortage, fear
they will be Disseminated against
ORE: Some steel manufacturers
have given as an excuse for not eX
panding, the argument that they
can't get enough iron ore. There is
a shortage of ore that building of
the st. Lawrence Seaway from the
Great Lakes to the sea would have
corrected. The Seaway would have
provided cheap, efficient way to
bring ore down from Labrador.
Congress still hasn't passed a law
authorizing the project.
OTHER METALS: Shortages of
copper and brass are
particularly noticeable. This will
affect industries making autos,
television sets, freez-
ers, and other heavy household
electrical equipment.
Military requirements will take
at least 20 percent Of the nations
aluminium output. The Munitions
Board, responsible for stockpiling
didn't anticipate aluminium needs.
The Celler Monopoly Committee
has set hearings for Nov. l-2 to in
vestigate the aluminium stockpilingl
Civilian copper products will be
pushed out of the market in the
next few months. Smelter stocks of
zinc sank to 25 year low at the
end of September.
MACHINERY: Will probably be
as big a bottleneck of materials
and manpower. On many types of
automatic machines or machine