Stability in Steel

The recent optimism so frequently expressed concerning the steel industry is relatively, if not absolutely, borne out by current figures of production and prices. Declines in production during October amounted to only 1% in ingot output, and to only 2 1/2% in pig-iron production. Actual tonnage during October was slightly greater than during the preceding September, but this was due to the greater number of working days in the former month. Prices in the eastern section have remained steady at previously established low levels, while slight declines have occurred in the western and southern fields.

Although demand has also declined, the trade has been greatly encouraged of late by the large volume of inquiries which have appeared. Of course many inquiries represent only a jockeying for lower prices, and cannot be considered equivalent to actual orders. Yet steel plates have begun to show activity from revived programs of shipbuilding, tin plate orders are good, and the Japanese government has bought large amounts of steel for rebuilding its devastated areas. This, coupled with the unabated movement for domestic construction, has been especially cheering to the steel trade. Thus far, the raw material lines of the industry, especially in coke, have been the only ones to experience real depression.