18

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

January 3, 1913.

prices were quoted:—Best Silkstone 13s. 6d. per ton,
best Barnsley softs 12s. 6d. per ton, seconds 9s. 6d. to
10s. 6d. per ton. During the prolonged negotiations
with the miners’ representatives in regard to the
minimum wage question there came a rush of orders,
with the result that an increase of 2s. per ton was
imposed, and orders were only booked up subject to
the prices ruling on the day of delivery. This action,
however, did not stem the abnormal demand, and
during February the railway traffic became so congested
that some collieries refused to book any further orders,
and just on the eve of the strike the best Silkstone
made 20s. to 21s. per ton, best Barnsley 18s. 6d. to 20s.
per ton, seconds 17s. to 17s. 6d. per ton. After work
had been resumed in April there was a decided slump
in house coal, and the purely house coal collieries had
no alternative but to work short time in order to avoid
stocks, and, of course, prices become easier than at
normal times. In May the coalowners took a decided
stand in demanding 2s. 6d. per ton advance for the
renewal of house coal contracts. In a considerable
degree they succeeded, so far as London and the
eastern counties were concerned, but locally coal
merchants preferred to risk the open market, though
at times they found prices very much on the upward
grade. In the early part of September the public again
suffered, and coalowners for the moment benefited once
again from the cry of panic which spread through the
country owing to the suggestion that the usual winter
advance was likely to be imposed at a much earlier
date than usual. At once collieries were again deluged
with orders, and in order to maintain something like a
regularity of business prices were still further advanced
from Is. 6d. to 2s. per ton in hope of steadying the
markets. However, the public could not be held back
they laid up stocks, and though considerable profit
was gained by the collieries they suffered greatly
towards the end of the year. The demand, assisted by
the mild weather, has been of a very sluggish
description, and stocks at the collieries accumulated
owing to the policy of coalowners not to flood the
market in order to maintain through winter quotations.
This policy has worked out fairly successful, and at the
close of the year prices were something as follow:
Best Silkstone 14s. 6d. to 15s. per ton, best Barnsley
softs 14s. to 14s. 6d. per ton, seconds Ils. 6d. to 13s. per
ton, best house nuts Ils. 6d. to 12s. 6d. per ton, and
secondary sorts 10s. 6d. to Ils. 6d. per ton.

Gas Coal.

The collieries engaged in the production of gas coal
have, so far as the volume of trade is concerned, about
held their own, and the pits have worked pretty nearly
full time during the greater part of the year. However,
when the question of values is considered, the collieries
have done rather badly when compared with other
sections of the trade, and apparently the large gas
companies are in a far better state of organisation than
the coalowners themselves, with the result that they
have pretty well had their own way. The contracts
which ran out about the end of June had to be taken at
a reduction from 3d. to 9d. per ton on the previous year,
whereas other coal had made a considerable increase.
About June commenced the struggle for the arrange-
ment of the new contracts, and coalowners were credited
with a firm resolve to have an advance of from 2s. to
2s. 6d. per ton in order to recompense themselves for
added charges which would come upon the industry.
The gas companies, however, treated the matter with
absolute indifference, and found colliery owners ready
to negotiate. The result was that in July contracts
were reported to have been fixed up at from Is. to
Is. 6d. per ton advance, and the position was in favour
of consumers from the fact that they had to be supplied
with the arrears on contract account which accumulated
during the strike. It is stated that where the very best
quality of fuel was absolutely necessary, an advance of
about Is. 6d. to 2s. per ton was obtained, but on the
whole gas companies did exceedingly well to have
covered their requirements until June next at the rate
of advance as indicated. The supply from the district
for London and on export account has been particularly
large, and towards the end of the year, owing to the
weather and the difficulties in obtaining regular contract
supplies, many companies were forced into the open
market to supplement their deliveries and found that
they had to pay an increase from Is. 6d. to 2s. per ton
on the contract rates which were ratified a few months
previously.

Coke.

This section of the industry has, in common with the
other branches of mining, witnessed a most remarkable
year. The extensions of by-product plants for coke
making have gone on rapidly. In the opinion of
some the only result could be a slump in the market,
but, on the contrary, the phenomenal demand has

DERBYSHIRE AND NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

The year 1912 will be long remembered as the one in
which the greatest strike in the history of the British
coal trade occurred. Following upon the settlement of
the dispute, there sprang up a fresh demand for coal,
and this has been growing week by week to such an
extent that supplies were at the close of the year totally
inadequate to meet the needs of the country. The result
is a substantial appreciation of the value of every class
of coal. In the spring of the year colliery owners
decided to demand an advance of 2s. 6d. per ton for a
renewal of contracts for house coal and 2s. per ton for
slack for steam-raising purposes, and their efforts have
in the main been successful.

Perhaps the feature of the year has been the
enormous increase in the demand for fuel for manufac-
turing purposes, which has arisen from the remarkable
improvement in the iron and steel trades. This demand
is particularly strong in respect of cobbles and nuts
suitable for gas producers in connection with the large
steelworks of the country. As the year advanced, the
call for this class of fuel became acute, and consumers

more than exceeded the capacity of makers. The
year opened with prices standing at Ils. 9d. to 12s.
per ton, and this price remained fairly steady, the
prospect of the strike having little effect on the industry,
as iron smelters at once recognised the impossibility of
keeping the furnaces in blast for any length of time in
the midst of such difficulties. A good deal of the
output was lost owing to the delay in the relighting
of ovens, and towards the end of April prices were
abnormal when a smaller quantity of coke was available,
about 15s. per ton being made. Practically the pro-
duction from this period never caught up with the
tonnage required, and in August, when work had
become something like normal, prices were advancing
and reached 16s. per ton. Since this date the market
has been against buyers, and short contracts were
renewed at a considerable advance, whilst towards the
end of the year values jumped in a remarkable degree
until they reached, at about the middle of December,
20s. per ton, and contracts were freely renewed at this
figure, whilst some good supplies have been contracted
for over the larger part of 1913 at 22s. .per ton. In
considerable measure the advancing prices were due to
the fact that the Middlesbrough iron district is
experiencing a scarcity of Durham coke, and have
rushed into the South Yorkshire district to cover the
needs owing to the very prosperous state of the iron
trade. However, apart from this, North Lincolnshire
and the Midland districts, which are more truly the
ordinary markets for this district, have taken a much
larger quantity than usual, and at the close of the year
were feeling the scarcity of the output. Towards the
end of the year the extensive plant, consisting of 80
regenerative ovens, at Barugh, belonging to the Old
Silkstone Colliery Company were got to work, and,
when in full operation, are expected to produce about
3,000 tons per week.

Developments.

Though the past year has been comparatively quiet
compared with its more recent predecessors in regard
to the development of the coal area in the Doncaster
district, there has been a good deal of activity shown in
respect of enterprises which were previously decided
upon. At the Maltby, Yorkshire Main, and Bulcroft
collieries much progress has been made in opening out
the seam, and each of these concerns, which have an
ultimate capacity of from five to six thousand tons per
day, are already having some influence in regard to the
export trade, though the year 1913 will provide a more
accurate test of their competitive capacity. There
seems to be every expectation that Messrs. Pease and
Partners will revive their expensive task of yet com-
pleting the sinking at the Thorne Colliery. In May
the Shafton seam was reached after considerable
difficulty at Brierley, near Barnsley, at a depth of
210 yards. The colliery is owned by the New Monkton
Colliery Company Limited and the seam, which is
4 ft. 6 in. in thickness, was opened out very con-
siderably towards the end of the year. Sinking opera-
tions are being carried on at Rossington, about four
miles to the south of Doncaster, the object being to
reach the Barnsley bed, which is now being worked all
around. The new concern is owned by Messrs. John
Brown and Co. and the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron
Company, and the new pit is to produce from 4,000
to 5,000 tons per day. The Barnsley bed was also
reached in September, at a depth of 568 yards at Askern
Main, and again a very large output is expected to be
available. Nearer to Barnsley preparations are in hand
by the Old Silkstone Colliery to work an extensive area
of the Whinmoor and Beeston seams, from their
Stanhope Silkstone Colliery at Cawthorne.

found it quite impossible to secure all the supplies they
needed, with the result that some of their departments
had to be temporarily stopped. It is a significant fact
that during the past year some of the large steelworks of
the Cleveland district found it necessary to draw some
of their supplies of fuel from North Derbyshire as well
as South Yorkshire. In the early part of 1912 the
demand for slack for boiler firing was fairly good, and
supplies were such as to satisfy customers’ needs; but
the later months witnessed a vast expansion of the
demand, and during the last quarter of the year there
was an absolute scarcity of small coal. From the con-
sumer’s point of view, matters are made worse by the
fact that collieries are rapidly increasing the number of
coke ovens and by-product plants, and therefore require
for their own use a considerable quantity of slack
that had hitherto been available for trade purposes.
There is, therefore, a shortage of slack, and prices at
the close of the year are fully 75 per cent, higher than
they were 12 months ago. Some people hold the
opinion that, with the extension of the number of
colliery by-product plants, and the consequent increase
of the consumption of slack in connection therewith, the
value of small coal will before long be on a level with
that of large steam coal.

The year that has just closed has witnessed a remark-
able expansion of the trade in washed nuts and slack, as
well as a noteworthy increase in the prices obtained for
this class of fuel. Owing to its greater freedom from
smoke, washed coal has come into more general requi-
sition by various municipal authorities in connection
with their electrical works.

Since the beginning of 1912 there has been a very
great strengthening of the demand for steam coal for
locomotive use, and it is obvious that the tonnage con-
tracted for by the various railway companies earlier in
the year has been far short of their requirements, hence
they have found it necessary to again enter the market
in order to make some supplementary purchases. Prices
of this fuel have risen practically 3s. 6d. per ton during
the year. The export trade has been one full of
difficulty and anxiety to shippers of coal, as, no sooner
were they apparently at the end of their troubles, with
the close of the miners’ strike, than they were con-
fronted by other serious ones in the form of exceptionally
high rates of freight. The demand for steam coal for
shipment during the earlier part of the year was of a
quiet character. This was due to the hardening
tendency of prices, which was felt by foreign buyers to
be of a temporary nature only. By delaying their
purchases they hoped and believed that they would be
able to place their orders on more favourable terms. In
this, however, they have been seriously disappointed,
and they now find that colliery owners are in a
position practically to dictate their own terms.
Russia, Norway and Sweden came into the market again
during the last few weeks of the year, and made
additional purchases of considerable quantities of steam
coal at prices which marked a very substantial advance
upon those at which they might have bought earlier in
the year. These large orders came into the possession
of collieries at what is usually a dull time of the year,
and have given additional strength to the market.
Prices of steam coal have advanced fully 3s. 6d. per ton
during the year. It is worthy of note that, in the
months of October and November, the best brands of
Derbyshire Top Hards realised higher prices than South
Yorkshire steam coal. Considerable loss as well as
great inconvenience to colliery owners and customers
alike has been caused by a scarcity of railway wagons
for the conveyance of coal to the ports. There has also
been much congestion of traffic on the railways, which
has prevented that prompt return of empty trucks
which is so essential to the regular working of the pits.
Fortunately, there has been this autumn a remarkable
freedom from fog, but for which, matters would have
be n most serious.

The remarkably strong character of the coke market
during the year 1912 is another outstanding feature.
The demand for coke for blastfurnaces and for steel-
melting has been most active during the whole year,
and prices steadily rose month by month until they
reached the highest point that has been recorded for
many years. The existing number of ovens was found
to be totally inadequate to meet the demand, and in
order to satisfy the requirements of the market colliery
owners have found it necessary to considerably increase
their power of production. It will, however, be a few
months before there is any appreciable addition to the
tonnage that is now available. The enormous demand
for coke has necessarily had a considerable effect upon
the market for coking fuel. This class of coal at the
close of the year was exceedingly scarce, and colliery
owners were eager to buy from their neighbours in
order to keep their coke ovens fully at work during the