704 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN, April 4, 1913. Chesterfield. COAL. There is a well-sustained demand for house coal, and complaint is occasionally heard of delay on the part of collieries in executing orders. Prices remain firm. Stocks are unusually low. The demand for fuel for manufacturing purposes continues strong, and customers are pressing for additional deliveries, which, however, collieries are not in a position to make. The large steel works of Sheffield require an exceptionally heavy tonnage of cobbles and nuts for their gas-producers, but it is impossible to fully satisfy their needs. Prices of these qualities show a tendency to harden. Slacks for boiler firing are in great request, but the supply is far below the requirements of the market. Prices are steadily advancing. Collieries’ own needs for their by-product plants are becoming greater as time goes on. Kail way companies experience some difficulty in securing all the steam coal which they require for locomotive use, and they readily avail themselves of any spot lots that are offered. The export section of the trade is active. There is a strong demand, and prices are still tending upwards. With the opening of the upper Baltic ports towards the end of this month, it is believed there will be a sharp rise in values. Enquiries for steam coal for shipment over the season are numerous, but, in many cases, collieries are unable to add to their existing commitments. To-day’s price for Derbyshire Top Hards is 12s. 3d. to 12s. 6d. per ton at the pit. An active demand is experienced for all classes of small fuel both washed and unwashed, but the supply is comparatively limited. Prices are very firm. The market for coke shows signs of renewed strength. There is a full demand, the output of the ovens being readily taken up. Prices are firm but unchanged on the week. Coking fuel continues scarce and dear. Prices at pit. Current Last week’s prices. prices. Best house coals 14/6 14/6 Secondary do 12/6 12/6 Cobbles ., 12/ 12/ Nuts 31/ 1 11/ Slack 9/ 9/ IRON. The condition of the iron trade of this district is very Satisfactory. Orders are plentiful, and the works are assured of full employment for some time to come. There is not the slightest falling off in any branch of the trade. Nottingham. GOAL. Following the holiday, the collieries in this county have now got into full swing again, and the condition of the trade is of a fairly satisfactory character, considering the time of the year. Since the resumption of work the pits in the house coal section have been completing orders which had accumulated over the holidays, and with a fair amount of orders having come to hand subsequently, most of the collieries are fully occupied, and stocks are low. In the present position of affairs prices have been well maintained, and at the time of writing no notification of a reduction in quotations has been made, but some merchants are purchasing only for immediate requirements in the hope of a decline. Business is expanding in the steam coal branch. With the home demand being active and the tonnage of exports increasing, this branch promises to be brisk, and values are becoming firmer, with a tendency to increase There is a good market for industrials. In regard to slacks, the position is favourable to owners, there having been an augmented demand for nearly all qualities since the holiday. On contract accoont, gas fuel is meeting with steady request, whilst it is stated an advance of about Is. per ton is being asked on renewals. The demand for coke is declining. Prices at pithead. Current Last week’s prices. prices. Hand-picked brights 12/ to 13/ 12/ to 13/ Good house coals 11/ to 12/ 11/6 to 12/6 Secondary do 10/6 to 11/ 10/6 to 11/6 Best hard coals 11/ to 12/ 11/6 to 12/3 Secondary do 10/ toll/ 10/6 to 11/ Slacks (best hards) 8/ to 9/ 8/ to 9/ Do. (seconds) — 7/6 to 8/ Do. (soft).... 7/ to 8/ 7/6 to 8/3 Leicestershire. COAL. Since the conclusion of the holidays business in this district has been very brisk, and the prospects point to a continuance of its present healthy state. Not only is there a very good amount of orders already in hand, but buyers are in a very buying mood. As the result, the amount of output is fully maintained, and there is but little stock at the collieries. There is a better business being done in household coals. The demand has much improved for the middle qualities, and there is more business being done in small household coals, and also an improvement in the best qualities. The steam coal market is very active, and all descriptions are in very good request. Deliveries of all sorts of coal have been very full. Local merchants are pretty well off for business generally. In response to the active condition of business, quotations are very firm, and though there is no apparent chance of an upward move- ment there is no probability of easiness, and the late ruling rates are firmly held. Enquiries are being made as to futures, but not much has yet been done in this direction. owners are benefiting very little, as the bulk of the output is sold at contract rates. The house coal pits are still having a good run of trade, and the collieries are kept at full work just now. Shipments are heavier than for some time, and Basin stocks are practically nil. Railborne orders, too, are very satisfactory. South Staffordshire, North Worcestershire and Warwickshire. Hednesford. COAL The coal trade generally throughout the Cannock Chase district continues in a satisfactory condition, and as there is not much coal in stock, and orders are fairly plentiful, it is not probable that there will be any material falling-off at present. At most of the collieries full time is being worked. The demand for coal for manufacturing purposes is in much the same satisfactory condition as when last reported. Owing, no doubt, to the cold, wet weather experienced, house coal continues in good request. There is a fairly brisk enquiry for slack. Kail way and canal sales are keeping up very well. Birmingham COAL. The rather unexpected vigour in the household depart- ment has influenced owners against making any reduction in the April price list, and it is probable that there will be no decline this side of Whitsuntide if conditions remain normal. The only exception to this statement is in the case of the Warwickshire best Kyder, which is easier. Prices are maintained for manufacturing fuel, and in the case of nuts and smalls an advance falls to be recorded. Prices at pit. Current Last week’s Staffordshire (including Cannock Chase):— prices. prices. House coal, best deep . 18/ 18/ Do. seconds deep 16/6 16/6 Do. best shallow 14/6 14/6 Do. seconds do. 13/ 13/ Best hard 14/ 14/ Forge coal 11/ 11/ Slack Warwickshire:— 8/6 8/6 House coal, best Byder ... Do. hand - pickeo 16/ 17/6 cobs 13/9 13/9 Best hard spires Forge (steam) 14/6 10/ 14/6 10/ D.S. nuts (steam) 10/ 9/3 Small (do.) 9/ 8/3 IRON. In view of the quarterly meeting next week, there was considerable enquiry at Thursday’s market. Buying must start very soon, as contracts are expiring and stocks need replenishing. The recovery of pig iron in Glasgow and Middlesbrough to about normal rates was a subject of congratulation among producers here, and the further advance of 2^ per cent, in wages as the result of the last ascertainment of the Midland Wages Board also had a steadying influence. The quietude of the last two months is reflected in the reduced output of material, the total for the 17 firms being 39,425 tons, compared with a tonnage of 40,146 for the preceding two months. The selling price, however, rose from .£8 Is. Id. to .£8 4s. 7d. Including the bonus, puddlers’ wages are now Ils. a ton, the highest for the past quarter of a century. For Northamptonshire forge iron, sellers were were quoting 68s., but buyers showed no anxiety to close at that figure, and quarter-day sales will probably be made at 67s. and 67s. 6d. For South Staffordshire iron 66s. 6d. was about the market level. Staffordshire pigs have held their own much better than the district brands since the beginning of the year. The finished iron mills are again in full operation, and no change falls to be recorded in values, but a fair amount of enquiry is on foot. For merchant bars producers are getting .£8 5s. to .£8 7s. 6d. Although there is a fair demand for galvanised sheets in the export branch prices leave the barest margin of profit, as few makers are able to get more than .£11 15s. a ton f.o.b. Liverpool. In black sheets, gas strip, common hoops, nut and bolt iron, and similar material, there has been no variation during the week. In finished steel the mills are as busy as ever, the shipbuilding demands being very heavy, apart altogether from the requirements for structural and bridge work. Sheet bars and billets are obtainable at .£5 15s. to J>5 17s. 6d. for Bessemer with 2s. 6d. extra for Siemens; A fall of 10s. has to be noted in ferro, brought about, it is understood, by increased foreign competition; the price now stands at .£11 10s. a ton. Copper sheets have gone up from .£83 to .£84, but the demand for this class of material is slack. Forest of Doan. Lydney. COAL. All the steam coal pits continue to work at full pressure, but it is impossible to execute all the orders received. Prices for current business are very satisfactory, but the Prices at pithead. Current Last week’s House coals:— prices. prices. Block 16/6 16/6 Forest 15/6 15/6 Rubble 15/9 15/9 Nuts 14/ 14/ Bough slack Steam coal:— ' 10/ 10/ Large 13/6 to 14/ 13/ to 14/ Small 10/6 to 11/ 10/ toll/ Prices Is. 9d. extra f.o.b. Lydney or Sharpness. THE WELSH COAL AND IRON TRADES. Thursday, April 3. North Wales. - Wrexham. During the past week the general state of the coal trade in this district has been satisfactory, and most of the collieries have been able to maintain their output, and to find a market for same. The difficulty is, however, with regard to the lack of empty wagons, especially those sent for the merchants’ trade. The household coal trade is quite as good as can be expected at this time of the year, and there does not appear to be any appreciable drop in prices as yet in this class of fuel—neither for the railborne trade or at the landsale depots. There is as usual a good demand for locomotive coal by the various railway companies who obtain supplies from this coalfield. There would appear to be a likelihood of advanced prices being obtained when any new contracts for this coal are made, but the extent of the advance it is difficult to forecast. In regard to general contracts for steam coal, the general idea is to make small short-time contracts for the present, but in these cases the buyers have to pay fairly high prices, and future contracts are likely to be renewed at higher rather than lower figures than the ruling prices. Then with regard to the gas coal question, supplies are about the same as usual, but the question in this line is to decide what the advance shall be for the new contracts. There would appear to be some difference of opinion, but the average tone suggests that about Is. 6d. will be the average advance this time. With reference to coal for the bunkers’ trade, there is a good demand for this fuel, and the average prices are well maintained. The bulk of it is being despatched from* Birkenhead and Ellesmere port, as owing to the strike at Garston no coal is being shipped there, and as a consequence it is stated that great inconvenience had been caused to the Dublin trade. Nuts still have a good demand—to the full extent of the output—and slack of average quality is also well sold, but gas coke seems to hang-fire somewhat. Current Last week’s Prices at pit f.o.r. — prices. prices. Best house coal 14/9 to 16/ 15/ to 16/ Secondary do 13/9 to 14/9 i 14/ to 15/ Steam coal 12/ to 13/6 ; 12/ to 13/6- Gas coal 13/ to 14/ ■ 13/ to 14/ Bunkers 12/ to 13/ | 12/6 to 13/ Nuts 11/ to 12/ i 11/ to 12/ Slack 6/9 to 9/6 ' 6/6 to 9/ Gas coke (at works) Prices landsale:— 15/10 to 16/8 15/10 to 17/6’ Best house coal 18/4 to 20/ 18/4 to 20/ Seconds 16/8 to 17/6 16/8 to 17/6 Slack 10/ to 12/6 10/ to 12/6 Prices f.o.b. cash 30 days, less 2| per cent. Monmouthshire, South Wales, &c. Newport. COAL The past week has seen a material improvement in the position of the steam coal trade in this district. Heavy shipments, made possible by the large quantity of tonnage available and the ample facilities for dealing with the coal, have depleted the stocks which cumbered the sidings,, restoring that even working of mineral trains between collieries and docks that is so desired by all interested. Tonnage in dock remains heavy, and collieries generally are so fully committed that they have little free coal available, and buyers are being quoted very firm prices for early deliveries. Sellers are equally firm for sales later in the month, showing much confidence in the market. Smalls continue relatively steady, throughs, nuts, &c., being equally firm. The house coal trade continues to hold its position, the firmer tendency of steams checking any weakness which might have arisen from a lessening demand. Pitwood now rules a shade easier, 19s. 6d. being asked for good wood c.i.f. Newport. In the freight market, an easier tone both for the South American Continent and for the Mediterranean have assisted business, fixtures being fairly numerous. Steam coals:— Best Black Vein large ... Wes tern-valley s, ordinary Best Eastern-valleys Secondary do. Best small coals Secondary do Inferior do Screenings .•. Through coals Best washed nuts Other sorts:— Best house coal Secondary do Patent fuel Furnace coke Foundry coke Current prices. 17/6 to 18/ 17/3 to 17/6 16/6 to 16/9 16/ to 16/6 14/6 to 15/ . 13/9 to 14/ 13/ to 13/3 14/9 to 15/ 15/6 to 16/ 14/6 to 15/ 18/6 to 19/ 17/6 to 18/ 22 6 to 23/ 28/ to 28/6 29/ to 31/ Last week’s 1 prices. i 17/6 to 18/ 17/ to 17/3 I 16/ to 16/6 15/6 to 16/ 14/3 to 14/6 13/3 to 13/6 12/6 to 13/ 14/6 to 14/9 15/3 to 15/6 14/6 to 14/9 18/6 to 19/ 17/6 to 18/ 22/6 to 23/ 28/ to 28/6 29/ to 31/