AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 54, 6 March 1922, Page 4

AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL

Messrs. John Dunn, Son, and Co;,- New York, advise Messrs. Brown and Dureau, Wellington, that prices or iron and Etcel are dill on the down grade, particularly on bars, plates, -and wire products. "Quotations are not much reduced but the market ia softer, and there' is ao question but that orders for such specifications a3 milk like would bo c*jerly competed for. "The talk of the consolidation of various iron and steel interests seems to have" been dropped, and newspapers now say that the* plans have fallen through. It is probable that it would ■be more nearly oorrect to say that some difficulties have been encountered whie(i it will take time of overcome, but no immediate move seams likely. "The market hss boen disturbed by talk of a strike in tho coal fields on Ist April, when the present airangemeni as to wages .expires. This, of course, would be a serious thing for the iron and steel producers, but the fact that there has been this talk so long ahead of time makes it probable that,, the difficulties will be adjusted, without the stopping of production. The min-rs arc gottinjr extraordinarily high wages, and the cost of fuel must be reduced before the_ country can get back to normal times. No doubt tho labour unions will do their best to maintain high rates, but it in very doubtful if they really expect to smesro th» sanio scale as they are now. operating under, not to speak of the 20 per cent, advance that thoy are loudly talking: about. • "The Iron Age composite on finished; steel for 26th January" is given exactly the same as a, month ago: namely, 2.062 dollars per 1001b. This compares with 3.057 dollars a year ago, and a ten-year pro-war averagn of 1.684 dollars." i