1040 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. November 19, 1915. difficult to obtain, but rubbly culm and duff were weak, there being little demand for these commodities. In steam coals there was an easy tone in evidence. Prices are all net f.o.b. (cash in 30 days)._________ THE BY-PRODUCTS TRADE. Current Anthracite:— prices. Best malting large (hand picked) ......; 36/ -37/6 ...... Secondary do. .... 34/6-36/ Big Vein large ...... 36/6-37/6 ............ Red Vein large ....... 32/ —35/ Machine-made cobbles 43/ —45/ Paris nuts ........... — French do............ 47/ -49,6 Stove do............. 44/ -47/6 Beans ................ 32/ -34/6 Machine - made large peas .............. 18/6—19/6 ................. Do. fine peas ...; — Rubbly culm.........: 8/ -9/ Duff.................' 2/6- 3/ Steam coals:— L’st week’s Last year’s prices. • prices. 36/ -37/6 ‘ 22/6-24,6 34/6-36/ 20,6-22/6 36/6-37/6 19/6-22/ 32/ -35/ 15/6-17/ 43/ -45/ ' 22/6-26/6 47/ -49/6 ; 23/6-26/6 44/ -47/6 23/6-25/6 32/ -34/6 , 18/6-19/6 Tar Products.—The market is very quiet, and prices practically without alteration. There is a slightly firmer tendency in pitch on the west coast. Benzols remain firm and in fair request. Nearest values are :— Rise ( + ) or fall (-) on the week. Best large ............; 20/ -24/ ................. Seconds ...............: 17/ -19/ Bunkers..............13/ —14/6 Small .................. 6/ - 8/ Bituminous coals:— No. 3 Rhondda— | Large.............'23/ -26/ Thro’-and-thro’.....j — Small ........... ! 15/ —16/ Patent fuel ............■ 22/ -23/ 18/6-19/6 j 12 6-13/6 8/ - 9/ 2/6- 3/ ; 3,9- 4/6 2/9- 3/6 20/ -24/ ; 18/9-22,6 17/ -19/ ; 13/ -14/6 i 15/9-16/6 10/3-11/ 6/ - 8/ [ 5/6- 8/6 23/ -26/ 17/6-18,6 15/ -16/ ■ 10/ -10/9 22/ -23/ ' 15/6-16/6 Benzols, 90’s ....................... ,, 90’s North ................ ,, 50’s ,, ................ Toluol .............................. Carbolic acid, crude (60 per cent.)... ,, crystals (40 per cent). Solvent naphtha, south (90% at 190 degs.), as in quality and package... Solvent naphtha, north (90% at 190 degs.), as in quality and package... Crude naphtha, north (in bulk) .... Creosote (for ordinary qualities) .... Pitch (f.o.b. east coast) ........... ,, (f.a.s. west coast) ........... Tar (per ton ex works) .............. 1/OJ-l/l ... - /Hl-1/ - “ 1/4 ... - 2/2—2/4 ... — 3/5—3/6 ... — 1/4—1/6 ... 2/2—2/3 ... 2/2—2/3 ... /61-/7 ... /2j-/3 ... 18/—19/- ... 17/—18/6 ... 19/9—23/9 ... + /6 [Benzols, toluol, creosote, solvent naphtha, carbolic acids, usually casks included unless otherwise stated, free on rails at maker's works or usual United Kingdom ports, net. Pitch f.o.b. net.] IRON. The various trades in this district showed very little improvement. There are two steel furnaces in course of erection, and a large stack almost completed. The tin-plate works were kept employed rather more regularly. The shipments of tin-plates were 48,238 boxes, receipts from works 73,536 boxes, and stocks in the dock warehouses and vans 375,658 boxes. Llanelly. COAL. The position of the coal market in this district shows no alteration, and whilst some collieries are being very hard pressed for coals, others have not sufficient orders on hand to keep pits at work more than three or four days weekly. Possibly there is no district where so great a difference in the demand is noticeable for coals raised at neighbouring pits as here. The users of anthracite and steam coals are, of course, very different, and whilst the one kind cannot be said to be in great demand, it often happens that the other quality is difficult to dispose of. The enquiry for anthra- cite is heavy, and with the exception of culm and duff all sorts are much oversold at high prices. Order books are full for the next few weeks, and sellers are refusing to quote for new business. Steams, however, are doing badly, and and prices are most unsatisfactory. Bunkers and smalls are very low. This week’s quotations approximately are: — Prices f.o.b. Sulphate of Ammonia.—A good enquiry for export both for near at hand and deferre d delivery, has resulted in a quickening of prices. For December £16 5s. is a current quotation, and for January/March £16 7s. 6d. Closing prompt prices are :— Rise;( + ) or fall ( —) on the week. London (ordinary makes) £15/12/6 ... +7/6 Beckton (25 per cent.) £14/15 ... +5/ Liverpool £15/12/6—£15/15 ... +5/ Hull £15/10 ... +5/ Middlesbrough £15/5 +5/ Scotch ports £15/15—£16 ... +10/ Wales £14/8/9 — Nitrate of soda (ord.) per cwt. 14/4| — [Sulphate of ammonia, f.o.b. in bags, less 2| per cent, discount; 24 per cent, ammonia, good grey quality; allowance for refraction, nothing for excess.] Anthracite:— Best malting large... Secondary do........ Big Vein large __..... Red Vein do.......... Machine-made cobbles... German nuts.......... French do.......... Paris do.......... Machine-made beans .. Do. peas......... Culm ................ Duff................. Other sorts:— Large steam coal..... Through-and-through... Small ............... Bituminous small coal... Current prices. 35/ -37/ 33/ -35/ 35/ -37/ 32/ -34/ 42/ -44/ 43/ -45/ 45/ -47/ 43/ -45/ 31/ -32/ 19/ -20/ 7/6— 8/6 2/6- 3/6 L’st week’s Last year’s prices. prices. 35/ -37/ 23/ -24/ 20/ -21/ 19/ -21/ 14/ -15/6 22/ -23/ 22/ -23/6 33/ -35/ 35/ -37/ 32/ -34/ 42/ -44/ 43/ -45/ 45/ -47/ 43/ -44/ 31/ -32/ 19/ -20/ 8/6- 9/ 2/9- 3/6 22/ -24/ 22/ -24/ 13/ -13/6 13/ -14/6 6/ - 8/ : 6/ - 8/ 15/6-16/6 15/6-16/6 23/ -24/6 23/ -24/6 19/ -22/ 13/ -13/6 4/ - 4/6 3/6- 4/ 18/ -20/ 10/9-11/3 8/ - 9/ 9/ -10/ _____________________________________________________ THE IRISH COAL TRADE. Thursday, November 18. Dublin. The inclement weather is favourable to the household trade, and upon the whole there is a good demand for most classes of fuel, prices of all classes remaining unchanged, viz. :—Best Orrell, 35s. per ton; Yorkshire brights, 34s.; best Wigan, 33s.; best Whitehaven, 33s.; best kitchen, 3'ls.; best Scotch steam coal, 30s.; best Orrell slack, 27s.; all less Is. per ton discount for cash; “bell” coal, 27s. per ton ex yard. Coke, 35s. 6d. per ton net delivered. Pit prices of Irish coal at Wolfhill collieries, Queen’s County, are :— Best large coal, 30s. per ton; best household coal, 28s. 4d.; culm, .all prices from 3s. 4d. per ton. Pit prices for Kilkenny (Castlecomer) coal, outside of contract prices, are as follow Best small coal, 23s. 4d. per ton; best large, 21s. 8d.; second quality, 20s.; bottom coal, 16s. 8d. break- age, 11s. 8d.; culm, 5s. to 8s. 6d. The coal vessels arriving during the past week amounted to 44, chiefly from Gar st on, Ayr, Partington, Irvine, Newport, Llanelly, Glasgow, Troon, Point of Aire, Ardrossan, and Whitehaven. Many colliers were delayed at the end of the week owing to the storms. The total quantity of coal discharged upon the quays was 18,600 tons. Belfast. There has been no advance so far in prices of house coal, but as freights are still tending upwards in consequence of difficult sea passages, an early increase is not improbable. Quotations are :—Best Arley coal, 36s. per ton; Orrell nuts, 35s.; Scotch house coal, 32s.; Orrell slack, 32s. per ton delivered. Steam coals are subject to alteration. Approxi- mate price of steam coals and coke are as follow :—Ordinary Scotch steam coal, 24s. to 25s. per ton; Scotch navigation, 26s. to 27s.; best Welsh steam, 38s. to 40s.; best gas coke, 30s. to 32s. per ton; best foundry coke, 40s. to 42s. 6d. per ton. Coal laden vessels arriving during the week were chiefly from Preston, Swansea, Ayr, Maryport, Garston, Ardrossan, Neath Abbey, Glasgow, Partington, Point of Aire, Campbeltown, Whitehaven, Silloth, and Dunoon. ______ Trade Notes. A start has been made upon the production of potash salts from the Marysvale deposits in Utah. The raw material is alunite, but the available details of the actual working results are vague. Portugal is making special regulations affecting the sale and production of fertilisers (simple or compounded), and also their importation. A schedule of standard proportions is to be drawn up by a technical commission to be approved by the Ministry at Fomento. The export returns for sulphate of ammonia for the past month are satisfactory as a whole. The gross tonnage shows a decline of about 2,000 tons, but the value has increased by some £44,000, compared with the corresponding month of last year. On the other hand, there are some more or less anomalous items in the detailed returns. France has jumped from £16 to £5,753. Spain and the Canaries also show sub- stantial improvement, namely, about £43,000; while the Dutch East Indies have been outstanding, the figures showing an increase from £49,876 to £145,213. After this there comes the now somewhat familiar drop in the United States returns, from £39,000 to £6,800; and for Japan from £57,600 to £8,900. • Bacterised peat is gradually moving to the front, and Prof. Bottomley has now received definite patent rights for its production. It appears he mixes finely ground phosphate rock, bone ash or bone meal, with peat, and then innoculates the mixture with aerobic micro-organisms that form humates, available nitrogen and soluble phosphates. The aerobes are obtained from gelatine or meat extract at 30 degs. Cent., and it is easy to prepare pure cultures of the organisms. This is certainly a distinct step nearer to the ideal nitro-phospho-potassic fertiliser which pioneer producers of fertilisers are striving after. Even if Government support to the growth of sugar beet is not forthcoming, there should be considerable encourage- ment for those interested in the development of this industry in the fact that the latest estimates of the world’s production of sugar beet indicate a shortage of well over two million tons. The only country where the area under cultivation is practically unaltered is Russia. According to this, the actual total production of sugar in 1915-16 is estimated at 6,765,000 against 8,156,534 tons produced in 1914-15. A start has been made at the Cantley factory, aS has been indicated by the truck loads of beet going over the railway system to that refining centre. The returns for the week’s exports have been :—Pitch, 1,299 tons, 160 bags, 52 casks, and £334. Tar, 14,140 gals., 112 barrels, 35 packages, and £523. Tar oil, £35. Benzol, £1,300 to Genoa. Toluol, £4,800 to Genoa. Sulphate of ammonia, 3,382 tons. _________________________________ The Engineering Institutions’ Volunteer Engineer Corps. —The first meeting of the general committee of this body took place last week. Among those present were Mr. Alexander Ross, Prof. Unwin, Mr. C. P. Sparks, Sir John Snell, Sir John Gavey, Dr. Tudsbery, Mr. Highfield, Col. Le Rossignol, R.E., Maj. Henrici, R.E., Capt. Sankey, R.E., Mr. L. B. Atkinson, Lieut.-Col. C. B. Clay, V.D. (commandant), Mr. E. G. Fleming (adjutant). The meeting was the occasion of some enthusiasm, and an executive committee was formed, consisting of Sir John Snell (retiring president of the Insti- tution of Electrical Engineers) as chairman, Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, C.M.G. (a vice-president of the Institution of Civil Engineers), Col. Le Rossignol, R.E., Lieut.-Col. C. B. Clay, Mr. L. B. Atkinson (hon. secretary and treasurer), Mr. Fleming, and a representative of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, to be nominated by the president. The report of the commandant showed that an arrangement had been made for sharing headquarters with the 4th Batt. City of London Regt. (Architects’ Corps). The Corps will only accept as new7 members those who are over military age, or disqualified by reasons of health, or who are engaged on war work, and who are not allowed by the Government on that account to enlist in the Forces, but whose training in this Corps would fit them to take part in the defence of the country in the event of a raid by the enemy, or any other emengency; and would also fit them to volunteer as trained men for service overseas if such a necessity arose at a later period in the war. THE LONDON COAL TRADE. Thursday, November 18. ______ The London coal trade continues very brisk, and the colder weather of the past few days has given a strong impetus to the buying, but the supplies have been exceedingly short. The quantities of house coal on hand at the various depots have been materially broken into, and the enquiries for further quantities for refilling and enlarging stocks have been plenti- ful, but keenly disappointing. The tone of the market is very firm, but the quantities coming forward are causing consider- able anxiety. The market has been well attended, and buyers have evinced a strong tendency to secure whatever free coal may be available. As, however, the wintry weather is increasing the difficulties in obtaining the necessary supply, the pressure becomes more and more apparent. The bulk of the merchants complain loudly of the shortage of labour on all sides, and the scarcity of wagons is again a prominent feature. Very few collieries can accept more orders, and the sheer inability to promise immediate despatch to orders on hand is making the situation serious and grave. Prices are already at the highest point in accordance with the new Act, but the difficulty in obtaining suitable supplies is becoming acute. The railway companies also are beginning to find the transport of the mineral traffic a serious problem, and it is not infrequent to find certain stations absolutely aground for want of coal, and the traffic stopped for days together. The usual barging stations are still congested, and consignments are only brought forward as barges are certified to be in the docks in readiness to receive the trucks invoiced. The seaborne market is very sparsely supplied. The arrivals from the Tyne are all contract cargoes, and are not quoted on the market, nor for open sale. A few small cargoes of Yorkshire coal have been offered during the week, and it is reported that Sharlston Wallsend has been sold on the basis of 20s. per ton at the pit’s mouth. Fourteen vessels were returned for Monday’s market, and 17 for Wednesday. Hard steam coal has been particularly firm, and the short supply has been eagerly sought after. The freight market continues rising, and the tonnage is scarce. Steamers have been fixed at 13s. from Hull to London, and 14s. from Newcastle to London, but in every direction chartering has been slow, on account of the paucity of boats. Dieppe, Rouen, Dunkirk, and Havre have been the principal fixtures. The Welsh coal market is very slow, but the Newcastle and Humber trade is brisk. A very important meeting was convened on Wednesday by the London Society of Coal Merchants of all the merchants who are interested in the scheme suggested in the recent circular from the Board of Trade for the supply of coal to small consumers. A very large number of merchants attended, and we understand that a scheme was devised by which every part of the poorer districts of London could be provided with coal at the established recognised advertised prices, however small the quantity ordered may be, thus doing away with the vexed and costly methods adopted by some of the dealers and trolley men in exploiting the poor, and claiming extra- vagant prices for the cwt. and | cwt. ordered by the working classes. The reports from Manchester and Sheffield show that a great scarcity of steel is apparent, and as long as this is the case, both hard steam coal and foundry coke are likely to be strongly in demand. The stoppage of so many collieries in the South Wales district, and the consequent lack of shipping tonnage owing to the lessening of the number of wagons, is getting to be a very serious item, and the prospects are far from satisfactory. Patent fuel is somewhat cheaper, owing to the release of so much of the small coal. The steady demand on the London market for all qualities of house coal, and the extraordinary pressure to secure the small quantities available are not likely to lessen as the winter advances, and many of the merchants view the outlook as one of extreme concern. The prices are not expected to advance to any inordinate degree on account of the restrictions of the new Price of Coal (Limitation) Act, but the shortage of fuel is a particularly anxious point. From Messrs. Dinham, Fawcus and Co.’s Report. Friday, November 12.—The demand for seaborne house coal continud good to-day, but no supplies were coming for- ward beyond those already arranged for. Cargoes, 23. Monday, November 15. — The continuance of very cold weather caused a good demand for seaborne house coal at to-day’s market, but no sales of either Durham or Yorkshire were reported. Cargoes, 14. Wednesday, November 17.—There were no Durham or Yorkshire seaborne house coal cargoes on offer at to-day’s market, but the demand continued good. Cargoes, 17. ___________________________ Coal Shipped from Ports in the United Kingdom during October.—The following figures, which have been extracted from the returns issued by the Commissioners of H.M. Customs and Excise, show the quantities of coal shipped from each group of ports in the United Kingdom during the month of October, as compared with the corresponding month last year Cargo. Bristol Channel ports ......... North-western ports .......... North-eastern ports .......... Humber ports ................ Other east coast ports ......... Other English ports .......... Ports on east coast of Scotland . Ports on west coast of Scotland Total ............. Bunker. Bristol Channel ports ........ North-western ports.......... North-eastern ports .......... Humber ports ................ Other east coast ports ........ Other English ports ________ .. Ports on east coast of Scotland.. Ports on west coast of Scotland.. Irish ports................ Total ............ Oct. 1914. Oct. 1915. Tons. Tons. 1,711,982 . .. 1,482,104 48,011 . 28,452 1,081,584 . .. 1,169,590 433,404 . .. 297,025 18,326 . 697 5 . 20 414,601 . .. 311,238 236,584 . 241,420 3,944,497 . .. 3,530,546 Oct. 1914. Oct. 1915. Tons. Tons. 414,428 . 230,599 385,116 . .. 251,437 184,461 . .. 202,519 156,203 . 95,173 92.972 . 101,959 16,350 . 9,374 83,351 . 42,593 118,345 . 85,924 221 . 3,000 1,455,447 . .. 1,022,578