( N e t T o n s ) B I T U M I N O U S
1925 J926
î f c c h 13 8 ,6 4 1 ,0 0 0 1 0 ,6 9 0 ,0 0 0
M a l ÎÎ 77 Îm ... 8 ,2 8 3 ,0 0 0 1 0 ,2 6 3 ,0 0 0 M a r c h 2 7 .(6 )... 8 ,3 5 3 ,0 0 0 9 ,6 0 9 0 00 D a il y a v e r a g e 1 ,3 9 2 ,0 0 0 1,602 0 00 C o a l y r . t o d a t e . . . . (c) 4 6 8 ,1 6 7 ,0 0 0 5 3 5 6 1 4 0 0 0 D a il y a v e r a g e 1 ,5 4 2 ,0 0 0 1 ,7 6 0 ,0 0 0
A N T H R A C I T E
i n ... J ,6 5 6 ,0 0 0 1 ,9 6 6 ,0 0 0 M o r Æ 7 7 ... 1 ,5 1 3 ,0 0 0 1 ,9 6 3 ,0 0 0
M a r c h 2 7 1 ,6 4 0 ,0 0 0 1 ,9 9 1 0 0 0
C o a l y r . t o d a t e . . . (c) 8 5 ,6 2 7 ,0 0 0 50,4 4 2 ^0 0 0 B E E H I V E C O K E
ïv r « r Æ 77 2 2 6 ,0 0 0 2 6 3 ,0 0 0
M a r c h . 27 (i>) ... 2 2 0 ,0 0 0 2 5 1 ,0 0 0 C il. y r . t o d a t e (c) 3 ,1 1 5 ,0 0 0 3 ,8 2 4 ,0 0 0 . (°> R e v is e d s in c e l a s t r e p o r t , (fe) S u b j e c t to r e - v is io n (c) A d j u s t e d to e q u a liz e n u m b e r o f d a y s in t h e tw o y e a r s . .
AVERAGE DAILY PRODUCTION OF BIT U M IN O U S COAL ( FROM WEEKLY REPORT OF
BUREAU OF MINES).
A n r 3 2 9 J[6 2330 6 13 eoe74 11 1825 1 8 152229 5 12 1926 3 10 17 2431 7 14 21285 1219 262 9 1023306 13 2027 6 13 2027 J u n e J u l y A u q . S e p t.
1 9 2 5
Dec. Jan. Feb. March
1926 .
D rive on for Spring B u s i n e s s The drive for spring and summ er business in the Middle W est w as opened la s t w eek w ith price reductions by Illinois and Indiana operators. E ffec
tive A pril 1, leading Franklin County
run, $1.15@ $1.50; screen in gs 90c.
@$1.10.
T ry to U n lo a d D ock S u rp lu s Current m ovem en t in th e dock trade at the Head o f th e L akes has been erratic, in k eep in g w ith th e w eath er fluctuations in demand. B ook in gs for early April d elivery, how ever, have been substantial and indu strial inquiry has improved. Sales a g en ts have started an ag g ressiv e cam paign to cut down the stocks on hand— estim ated a t 2,375,000 tons— before n avigation opens. Irregu larity in prices has been the resu lt and quotations are off 25@ 50c. a ton, excep t upon sm okeless, w hich slipped sharply a few w eeks ago.
W ith orders fo r an th racite flow ing in at an in creasing rate, dock operators feel th at the m arket w ill read ily absorb 1 ,000,000 tons during the com ing se a son of n avigation. R etail yard s a t Su
perior and D uluth have been booking flll-up orders from householders who are not quibbling over w h at th e price m ay be. On th e in du strial side the m ost active dem and a t th e p resen t tim e is for bitum inous screen in gs, w hich are held at $4, f.o.b. docks.
U nseason ably cold w eath er k ep t the retail trade in th e Tw in C ities b usy la s t week, but fe w orders w ere placed w ith the w holesalers. Steam buyers, too, have been holding back, influenced in their policy by the fa c t th a t th ey have been able to pick up d istress tonn age here and there. W eath er conditions also had a favorab le effect upon th e m ove
ment of coal in M ilw aukee.
S n o w sto rm C le a n s U p “N o B ills ” The heavy sn ow storm s w hich sw ep t over the Middle W est la s t w eek cleaned up the “no b ills” in th e K an sas field and brought fu ll-tim e op eration to th e mines th a t w ere open. S trip p in g o p er
ations were th e ch ie f b eneficiaries.
Shaft-m ine screen in gs are scarce, but the demand has been m et by crushed shovel m ine-run. A rk an sas and O kla
homa operations shared little in th e rush demand. A lth ou gh th e r e ta iler s sp ec i
fied sm all cars o f K an sas coal, th ey took any equipm ent loaded.
April reductions a v er a g in g $2 per ton have failed to stim u la te d om estic demand for Colorado coal. R etail b uy
ing, for the m ost part, is lim ited to current consum er dem and. Steam -coal movement, on th e oth er hand, is a ctiv e and prices have been advanced ap p roxi
m ately 50c. Colorado m in es are ru n ning about th ree days a w eek.
A w eather flurry toned up U ta h r e tail business la s t w eek , but th ere w a s little reaction a t th e m ines. F e w oper
ations are doing b ette r than tw o days a w eek. In du strial dem and is su b normal and “no b ills” are p ilin g up.
An in terestin g d evelopm en t is th e a c
tivity o f com panies doing b u sin ess on a C. O. D. basis. Two com p anies, offerin g Carbon County coal, are now w ork in g on this plan in S a lt L ake C ity. One has cut quotations 75c.@ $1.50 and th e other, $2.25 per ton.
S m o k e le ss P r ic e s S lu m p in g The price situ a tio n in sm o k e less coals is still u nsettled. A fte r m o st o f th e standard shippers had announced a $3 price on lump and e g g fo r A pril, one of the la r g e st in th e field— th e
Crozer-P ocahontas Co.— quoted $2.75 and three other distributors m et th at figure. N ut is $2@ $2.25 in the Cincinnati m arket;
m ine-run fa irly stead y a t $2 , and slack,
$1.25@ $1.50.
D iversion o f b usiness from the H ar
lan to the Elkhorn field is the out
stan d in g developm en t in the high- volatile m arket. One contract calling fo r ap proxim ately 700,000 tons for steel p lants has been sw itched to the Elk- horn d istrict on a $1.50 mine-run basis.
Several Ohio and Canadian u tility con
tracts also are go in g to the Elkhorn field on th e sam e basis. The $1.50 price has been fa ir ly w ell established as th e ruling lake figure. H eavy con
tra c t buying on “a m ine-run b asis” has strengthened the m arket in slack. Some coal still can be had at 80c., but the b etter grad es are $1@ $1.15.
The m arket fo r prepared sizes is in a sta te o f collapse. Southeastern K en
tucky is stick in g to the $2@$2.25 range on block, but 4-in. W est V irginia block is fr e e ly offered a t $1.75@$2 and egg is w eak at $1.50@ $1.75. Spot mine-run, both steam and byproduct, is draggy.
U n c e r ta in ty R u le s C en tral Ohio The central Ohio steam trade is still an uncertain quantity. Many of the
contracts which expired A pril 1 have not been renewed, and there is noth ing in sig h t to indicate th at th ey w ill be.
W ith supplies p len tifu l, buyers find the spot m arket equal to all th eir dem ands.
No im provem ent is expected u ntil th e lake trade is in fu ll sw in g. Southern Ohio, w hich is now producing about 18 per cent o f capacity, is ch erish in g no hopes, however, th a t it w ill be an a ctive p articipan t in th at business.
E xcep t in th e case o f slack and nut- and-slack, it has been difficult to m arket eastern Ohio coal— even a t a loss.
Screenings, however, have again s t if fened and recent q uotations show an advance o f 10c. Production in th e N o. 8 field during the w eek ended March 27 w as estim ated a t 217,000 tons, or 31 per cent of p otential capacity. The output w as 30,000 tons le ss than in th e w eek preceding and 34,000 tons under the figures for the corresponding w eek in 1925.
W hat little b usin ess is le ft in the P ittsburgh district appears to be d rift
in g into the hands of a fe w operators.
The m ajority of the producers seem to fe e l that th ey cannot operate on the Jacksonville scale and do n ot care to follow the lead of th e P ittsb u rgh Coal Co. in its openshop p olicy. That com -750
700
C oal A g e In d ex o f S p o t P r ic e s o f B itu m in o u s C oal F .O .B . M in es ,---1926--- N 1925 1924
Apr. 5 M ar. 29 M ar. 22 M ar. 15 A pr. 6 A pr. 7 I n d e x ... 158 163 167 168 162 171 W eig h ted a v e ra g e price ... $1.93 $1.97 $2.02 $2.03 $1.96 $2.07
T h is d ia g ra m show s th e relative, n o t th e a c tu a l, prices on fo u rte e n coals, re p re s e n ta tiv e of n e a rly 90 per cent of the bitum inous o u tp u t of the U n ited S ta te s, w eighted flrst w ith re sp e c t to th e p roportions each of slack, p re p a re d a n d ru n -o f-m in e n o rm ally shipped, a n d second w ith resp ect to the to n n ag e of each n o rm ally produced. T he a v e ra g e th u s o b ta in e d w a s com pared w ith th e av erag e of th e tw elve m o n th s ended Ju n e, 1914. as 100, a f te r th e m a n n e r adopted in th e re p o rt on “P ric e s of f o n l a n d C oke: 1913-1918,” p u b lished by th e Geological S urvey an d th e W a r In d u s trie s B oard.
52 0 C O A L A G E Vo l. 2 9 ,
No.
14 southern loading piers to control the s ituation. Those who w ill not buy d istress
There are only occasional inquiries fo r P en n sylvan ia bitum inous, eith er for all-rail or rail-and -w ater shipm ent.
Q uotations are so ft. E ven w here the com petition w ith the low -volatiles from southern W est V irginia is n ot direct, the central P ennsylvania shippers know th at only a m inim um figure w ill a ttr a ct
R etail dealers, how ever, readjusted p rices to th e consum er. The n ew sched