802 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. April 19, 1918. THE COAL AND IRON TRADES. Thursday, April 18. Scotland. —Western District. COAL. Brisk conditions still characterise the Scotch coal trade generally. The demand for all classes of fuel is fully maintained, and collieries have difficulty in keeping deliveries up to date. They are handicapped by the short- age of railway wagons. In the West of Scotland district local demands are heavy, and gas works, electricity works, and industrial works are barely securing their supplies. Tonnage, too, has been a little more plentiful, and shipping business has been a little more in evidence. Shipments^for the week amounted to 109,373 tons, against 112,383 in the preceding week, and 89,083 tons in the same week last year. Prices f.o.b. Glasgow remain as in our last issue. IRON. Business in the Scotch iron trade proceeds on strenuous lines. Government demands are as firm as ever, and ordi- nary consumers are securing very little in the way of first- hand material. In pig iron business is carried on under the highest tension Outputs are as high as the supply of labour and raw material will permit, but distribution is still on a hand-to-mouth principle. The export trade has prac- tically dried up. Approximate quotations are as follow:— Monkland and Carnbroe f.a.s. at Glasgow, Nos. 1, 140s., Nos. 3, 135s.; Govan, No. 1, 135s., No. 3, 130s.; Clyde, Sum- merlee, Calder and Langloan, Nos. 1, 150s., Nos. 3, 145s.; Glengarnock at Ardrossan, No. 1, 140s., No. 3, 135s.; Eglinton at Ardrossan or Troon and Dalmellington at Ayr, Nos. 1, 145s., Nos. 3, 135s.; Shotts at Leith, No. 1, 150s., No. 3, 145s. per ton. At the malleable iron works business is being pushed to the utmost capacity In small sizes, particularly, there is a great demand, while the enquiries for cable and bolt iron are incessant. There is also no falling off in the call for rivets, bolts and nuts. Scotland.—Eastern District. COAL. In the Lothian district orders exceed the output. Admir- alty requirements are heavy at present, and the business on local account is also considerable. Shipments were 17,388 tons, against 16,462 in the preceding week, and 18,026 tons in the same week of last year. Prices f.o.b. Leith remain as in our last issue. Collieries in Fifeshire are also in arrears with deliveries, and there seems little prospect of an acceleration in outputs meantime. Enquiries for shipment have been brisker of late. Clearances amounted to 56,110 tons, against 23,164 in the preceding week, and 17,652 tons in the same week last year. Prices f o.b. Methil or Burntisland are unchanged from those of last week. The aggregate shipments from Scottish ports during the past week amounted to 182,871 tons, compared with 152,009 in the preceding week, and 124,761 tons in the corresponding week of last year. Northumberland, Durham and Cleveland. Newcastle-on-Tyne. COAL. Throughout the week there has been a great and, indeed, an increasing pressure for fuel supplies. The steam coal and gas coal collieries have been working at their maximum rates of output, and their production has been taken up as speedily as it could be brought to the surface and despatched. Official requirements show no diminution, and requisitioned tonnage has arrived in quantities almost embarrassingly large. At all events, it is taking the pits all their time and energy to cope with the demand for cargoes. This great degree of activity has had a very healthy effect on the bunker section, and at the time of writing stocks of bunkers are at long last none too plentiful, and the tone of this section is much stronger. Smithies, coking coals, households and all descriptions of coke are in excellent demand, and are being practically fully absorbed on home account, leaving very little indeed wherewith to meet the strong export enquiry. For the first time since the present minimum prices were fixed there is much talk of the likelihood of collieries raising prices, and it is probable that best steams and gas bests, at least, will be at a higher level of selling value. New business is not being pressed on the market, in view of the fact that buyers can only in exceptional cases secure supplies for delivery this month, loading turns at present being full for a good many days ahead. No forward business of any magnitude is reported. Prices f.o.b. for prompt shipment remain the same as those given last week. Sunderland. COAL. There is practically no change in the coal market, the strong tone of which is fully maintained. Indeed, steam coals are quite scarce, and some collieries that are being pressed for delivery on requisition account are raising their prices for neutral shipment 2s. 6d. a ton over the schedule figure. For neutral shipment, of course, the schedule price is a minimum figure, and can be raised as occasi n requires ; but the fact that producers are now in a position to ask this advance, affords striking proof of the strength of the steam coal market. Smalls are no better, and are accumulating at a rapid rate. Gas and coking coals, screened nuts and peas, and washed smalls are all briskly enquired for by home consumers. Bunkers are steady. / with a fair business doing in the better class brands. Coke is well maintained, but shows no change. The prices of coal f.o.b. Sunderland are unchanged from those given in our last issue. Middlesbrough-on-Tees. COAL. On the whole, quite a satisfactory report can be given of the fuel trade. The position of collieries in the matter of work is excellent, and the tonnage supply is now good. Steam smalls continue very quiet, but there is a particu- larly brisk demand for steam large, the price of which is now 35s. Good gas coal and coining coal continue in request at prices that have ruled for some time past. A very ample supply of coke meets the heavy requirements. Not only is home demand heavy, but considerable foreign enquiry is reported, and the market is quite active. Average blastfurnace quality realises 33s. at the ovens, low phosphorus sort 35s. 6d. at the ovens, and foundry descrip- tions, 38s. for home use ; whilst for shipment both furnace and foundry coke are 45s. f.o.b., and gas house product ranges from 38s. to 40s. f.o.b. IRON. There is a moderate business passing in Cleveland pig iron, the supply of which is plentiful, and as supply of trucks has further improved a little, supplementary alloca- tions for this month are being made to home consumers. The home deliveries for April, though they are certain to be below what could be wished, now promise to be heavy. Foreign transactions are still on only a limited scale. For home consumption No 3 Cleveland pig, No. 4 foundry, and No. 4 forge all stand at 95s., and for shipment to France and Italy these qualities are quoted 114s. No. 1 Cleveland is 99s. for home use, and 119s. for export to the Allies. There is rather more doing in the east coast haematite department. All essential home needs are receiving adequate attention, and a little more iron is available for export, the stringency having been much relieved by the enlarged production of basic iron, which is being much more extensively used for steel making. Mixed Numbers of haematite are 122s. for home use, and 147s. for shipment to France and Italy. In finished iron and steel the huge production is being gradually further increased, and ship builders are assured of ample supplies of material. Prices are very firm. Cumberland. Maryport. COAL. The Cumberland coal industry continues in an exceed- ingly firm and brisk condition, and business is well maintained in all the main branches except landsale. Production has not been quite so satisfactory of late, with the result that there is at the moment less coal to meet an increased demand. The output of some of the pits has dropped considerably since the holidays. The principal cause is, of course, the comb-out. In some parts of the district a great number have voluntarily joined the Army, but in others less willingness has been shown. All the collieries are working full time, but production all over the coal field is very much lower than it has been for some months. The demand for all sorts is very heavy, and all that was possible last week was to supply important consumers at the iron and steel works. The iron ore mines and the by-product coke ovens are fairly well supplied. Local landsale is much quieter, but at the moment merchants can easily dispose of all the stocks they can secure. The home market is very firm, and there is a keen demand for all sorts for local consumption; but export went shorter than ever, and last week Irish shipments con- sisted mainly of Northumberland and Durham coal. Bunkers are in steady request, and gas and engine fuels for local use are in very firm demand. The collieries are still pressed with orders, and some of the pits have booked more business than they will be able to deal with for some time. The coastwise trade is remarkably active, and the clamour for both house and manufacturing sorts from the Irish market is getting keener. Very little Cumberland coal is now available for shipping, and although merchants are import- ing increased supplies from outside districts for export, it is still impossible to satisfy Irish requirements to the full. The shipments from some of the Cumberland pits are still increasing. Coke is in firm demand, and all the by-product plants between Congleton and Whitehaven are maintaining big outputs. All the ma'?e is being readily absorbed at the blast furnaces in West Cumberland. There has been no alteration in either local or coastwise quotations. South-West Lancashire. COAL. The situation with regard to household coal does not improve. Orders are on the increase, and receipts from collieries have not recovered from the recent stoppage. There is a disposition also for customers to order in advance of present consumption. With regard to shipping, at the moment rather more tonnage is available, and the demand for steam coal for general bunkering and export is some- what better, Admiralty requirements being strongly maintained. Supplies are on the bare side, though not, perhaps, actually short. Minimum prices are according to schedule. The quantities of household coal going forward to the ports for coastwise and cross-channel trade have been materially reduced in consequence of vessels being taken off this service for other purposes. There is not expected to be much change as between supplier and purchaser in the gas coal trade this year, as contracts, it is said, will be continuous. The difficulty will be to find monthly tonnage equal to the delivery of the same period of last year. No change takes place in slacks and small graded fuel for steam raising. The demand is rather more than the supply, and there is no doubt consumers’ stocks are being drawn upon to some extent to eke out the bare supplies that are going forward. Prices at pit and f.o.b. are as given in our last issue. South Lancashire and Cheshire. COAL. The attendance on the Manchester Coal Exchange on Tuesday was scarcely up to the average. Little business in the different qualities of coal passed. The chief subject of conversation was the forthcoming rationing scheme. The demand for shipping fuel is still affected by the shortage of steamers. Prices generally are as given in last week’s report. IRON. There was a fair attendance on ’Change on Tuesday last, but nothing whatever to report of particular interest. Prices remain without change, both as regards scrap and semi-finished material. All works are fully employed on war material, and entirely controlled by the Ministry. Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Leeds. COAL. The conditions referred to in last week’s report, relating to the reduction in output and the general shortage of supplies of coal, have become more pronounced. Very few colliery representatives included in the large attendance on the market on Tuesday had anything to offer, while deliveries all round are inadequate, and the demand is almost unlimited. There are growing complaints of absenteeism on the part of the miners, and there is a marked decrease in the tonnage raised at most pits due to this cause ; while the combing-out arrangements are disturbing the ordinary course of things, not so much in regard to the amount of labour already withdrawn from the pits as by leading to unrest, and in a number of cases actual stoppage of the pits for short periods, with necessarily a serious effect on the output. This trouble has spread during the last week, and much working time has been lost. Mean- while the demand for supplies has increased, partly owing to official action in requisitioning West Yorkshire coal for London gas works and bunkering purposes, and to Admir- alty requirements, partly owing to the working of munition and similar concerns during the Easter holidays when the pits were idle, and partly by the exhaustion of winter stocks of house coal. The market is consequently shorter of supplies than has been the case for many months past, and, in fact, a year ago. This applies to all sorts. With regard to house coal for London, enquiry was keen on the market, but there was extreme difficulty in placing orders with the collieries. Owing to the commandeering of mer- chants’ supplies for gas and bunkering purposes, coupled with the fact that the lifting of depot stocks is not per- mitted, merchants, it is reported, are finding it difficult to meet the needs of their customers. In the local and nearer markets there is a much stronger demand, as the stocks taken in last autumn for winter consumption are getting exhausted, and merchants as a rule have many more orders on their books than the reduced deliveries coming to hand will enable them to keep pace with. Many depots are reported to be without coal. Manufacturing sorts are also very scarce, especially the better qualities, and supplier are practically hand to mouth, the position being intensified by the recent holidays. Reduced consumption comes to the relief of gas works, but little has yet been possible towards building up stocks, and after attending to contracts there is no margin available for new business. The scarcity of coking smalls continues to hamper coke makers, who, in some instances, are compelled to eke out the inadequate supply by using nuts and large coal, crushed. The demand for furnace coke is well maintained and fully takes up the output of the ovens. Pit prices, are more or less nominal, on the same basis as those given last week. Barnsley. COAL. The production continues to be materially interfered with owing to the comb-out. The voluntary spirit is still very marked, and young miners, who make more than the average output, having once decided to join the Army, cease work at once. There is little, prospect of the position improving, and in every respect supplies will probably be considerably more restricted. The counter effect resulting from the control of the distribution is being realised, and though in some respects deliveries may not be adequate for the requirements of industries, a fair share, of course, has to be supplied to satisfy the demand of con- cerns which are engaged upon the most important of war requirements. All things considered, the collieries are doing fairly well having regard to their reduced output. Pressure continues with a view to procuring extra supplies in the open market, but it is hopeless, collieries having no need to seek a market for any surplus lots th it unexpectedly occur. A good bulk of the output of large steams still goes for Admiralty purposes and for use by the Allies. Home requirements continue to absorb a large production. Steam nuts continue to be very scarce, apart from the requirements of the munition- and other engi- neering concerns, and all classes of small steam fuel are enquired for. In respect to gas coal supplies, in some instances these are reduced in accordance with the lesser consumption, which may be expected as the result of the new restrictions. The collieries continue to make a big effort to maintain the supply of slacks suitable for coke making in proportion to the requirements, but this cannot be completely attained, although a considerable tonnage of nuts continues to be adapted for this use. The demand for house coal in the nearer districts has been more active, but in a general sense there has been no difficulty in meeting the requests. Pressure is still felt for larger supplies of furnace coke, but the daily production of the ovens is hardly equal to the consumption. Prices at pit are unchanged from those given in last week’s report. Hull. COAL. The effects of the smaller production and the comb-out of miners in the Yorkshire coalfield are being felt in the export trade from the Humber, shippers having increasing difficulty in obtaining supplies to meet their commitments. A good quantity is reserved for our Allies, to whom ship- ments have so far been fairly well maintained, but the business is greatly hampered when the supplies by railway are irregular and steamers often in consequence delayed. The demand on Admiralty and official account shows no sign of abating, and buyers without prior claims have much difficulty in getting requirements met. Screened coal is in strong demand, and slacks and all industrial fuels are readily absorbed. Trade with neutrals is confined to narrow limits, orders occasionally being met by coal from districts where the pressure is not so great. The official return of arrivals at Hull from colliery gives a total of 215,644 tons for March, against 251,514 tons in March last year; and from January 1 to date 658,566 tons, against 728,715 tons for the corresponding quarter of 1917—the falling-off being equal to something under 10 per cent. Chesterfield. COAL. The demand for all classes of coal is very strong, and with a decreasing output, great difficulty is experienced in meeting customers’ requirements. Orders for house coal are considerably in arrear, and merchants are pressing for supplies. The position with regard to coal for manufac- turing purposes is such as to cause much anxiety to those responsible for the regular working of plant engaged upon Government orders, as they are compelled to work from hand to mouth. Cobbles and nuts, which are specially wanted for gas-producers, are most difficult to find—a free- burning coal being essential. Slack for boiler firing is in greater demand, and supplies are not by any means plentiful. Locomotive coal is scarce, and railway com- panies are compelled to take up from their stock heaps when labour is available, as current deliveries are not equal to the present consumption. Gas coal is in great request. There is nothing to report in connection with the export trade. The shipment of coal from this district is still pro- hibited. The demand for coke is active, all qualities being in request. IRON. There is a good demand for all classes of iron, and the whole production of blast furnaces and rolling mills is readily absorbed. Foundries and engineering works are busily employed on Government work.