STEEL PRICES INCREASED

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25250, 31 July 1947, Page 7

STEEL PRICES INCREASED

DECISION BY U.S. CORPORATIONS

RISING COSTS BLAMED (Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK. July 29. “Price increases ranging between five and 10 dollars a ton were announced to-day by the United States Steel and the Bethlehem Steel Corporations. It is estimated that they will add 300,000,000 dollars to the bill of the consumers who use steel in many manufactured items, ranging from motor-cars to nails,” says the “New York Times.” . “The chairman of United States Steel (Mr Irving Olds) attributed the increase to rising costs, even apart from the recent coal labour settlement which, he said, would cost the United States Steel corporation more than 30,000,000 dollars a year.” The “Wall Street Journal” says: “The steel price increases and costly labour threaten to run the American shipbuilding industry high and dry on to the sandbar of inactivity. Steel accounts for 30 per cent, of the total cost of materials In shipbuilding, while labour costs are about 50 per cent “British shipbuilders accounted for 53 per cent, of the world tonnage under construction on June 30, while American yards had a skimpy 5 per cent. “United States shipbuilders see little prospect of future business after their present contracts are completed. Already some shipowners nave abandoned plans to build new ships. For example, the American President Line recently cancelled plans for building two large ships for the Pacific service, and also cancelled t,wo for the South African service.”