coal trade bulletin - Clpdigital.org

GOAL TRADE BULLETIN
Vol. XXX PITTSBURGH, APRIL 1, 1914 No. 9
THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN:
PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY.
Copyrighted, 1914, by THE COAL TRADE COMPANY.
A. R. HAMILTON, Proprietor and Publisher,
H. J. STRAUB, Managing Editor.
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relating to coal or coal production are invited.
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THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN,
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MARKET CONDITIONS are not entirely satisfactory
at this, the date of the opening of the coal year.
There are many factors that enter into this, not
the least of which is the generally unsettled busi­
ness situation and the curtailment of operations
on the part of the large transportation companies
and some of the larger industrial corporations.
The matter of the adjustment of freight rates,
which the railroads have been urging for some
time also has had an effect on the market, and
now the uncertainty as to just when the different
wage scales will be settled has added to the gen­
eral condition that makes for less satisfactory
market. Reports of increasing operations on the
part of the largest steel producer and decreased
surplussages of cars are at hand, and they have
their effect on the trade, but not to so great a
degree as they would have were other things
equal.
Wage conferences are now being held or ar­
ranged for in many of the districts, and these
are being watched eagerly as they will have some
effect on the market.
Conflicting reports are heard concerning the
amount of coal on the docks at head of lakes,
and at other large distributing centers, and ir
will take official reports to show just what really
is the situation in this respect. Reports from
insistent and they likewise show that inquiries
for large fuel supplies are not overly plenty.
In the Pittsburgh district trade conditions are
practically the same as in other districts. Mines
are not making more than two-thirds time, if
they are doing that well. Transportation diffi­
culties are being experienced, but they should
help, rather than hinder the market. Demand
is not what producers would like to see it, and
in consequence the hint of premiums that was
heard at the opening and the middle of last
month no longer is heard, and prices rule at
card figures. Like all other districts in the
Central competitive field, the Pittsburgh district
has its wage scale to negotiate, and this will
occupy the attention of producers and miners in
the near future. The rise in the rivers has helped
the river shipping companies and they not only
have gotten away a good sized shipment of coal,
but they also have brought to the Pittsburgh
harbor a large number of empty craft and these
will supply storage capacity for a large tonnage
while awaiting another shipping stage. With all
the conditions mentioned, operators are holding
prices at card figures, which are: $1.30 to $1.40
for run-of-mine coal; $1.40 to $1.50 for three-
quarter coal; $1.50 to $1.60 for inch and one-
quarter coal, and 80 to 90 cents for slack.
Coke manufacturers have been bothered during
the past fortnight with some transportation dif­
ficulties, their troubles in this respect being
greater than the coal men. The difficulty is
being overcome, and shipments are now going
forward in larger volume, but it will take several
weeks to clean up the accumulation that fol­
lowed the start of the difficulty. Production has
kept on the upgrade steadily during all the month
of March, and the last week for which reports
are available show that the tonnage was the larg­
est of any week in the present year and the
largest since the first week of November, 1913.
Continued furnace activity indicates that the
different trade centers show that demand is not weekly tonnage will show still further increases