THE SCOTTISH STEEL TRADE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19512, 22 June 1925, Page 14

THE SCOTTISH STEEL TRADE

' While tiie conditions in the Scottish steel trade have not changed for the better, at least some little stir has taken place by tho agreement to free prices for th© homo, trade (says the journal Engineering), 'ibis development, which will be of great importance to the shipbuilding and allied industries, was the outcome of a meeting of the Scottish and English steel makers in London recently. An exception is made in tho case of boiler plates, which still remain under control, but which have been reduced locally by 10a per ton, the now c,notation being £l2 10s per ton. For sonic time past there has existed an arrangement by which makers could come under the official price? for ship plates and sections when orders were urgently rnejuirod, and this state has also existed since the oflicial reduction of last month. Now that the price agreement has been scrapped and makers have a free hand fo sell at what they please, we may look forward to a period of very keen competition amongst local sellers, with the. probability that foreign produced steel will largely disappear' from the market for a time. There is no gainsaying the fact that a stale of great depression has existed in the industry for many months back, and if by the new conditions an impetus is given lo shipbuilding by lower prices, the works will benefit by an increase in production. It is difficult; to say at the moment what prices will be. accepted, because there are so few inquiries in the market. The latter arc expected to increase considerably now, and if inducements of a satisfactory nature are offered lo buyers there is the prospect of quite a few undertakings bein. gone on with which have been held up owing to ilie high costs of recent times. In tho black-sheet trade, the conditions have- varied little, but bookings in light and galvanised sorts' show a moderate increase.