Steel's Low Point?

On the general theory that anything very bad is bound to get better, some students of business are interpreting the 45% production rate of steel ingots and other lugubrious statistics of the steel industry as evident signs that it may be "turning the corner." However this may be, only mournful sounds come out of the steel camp. Sales are said to be running only about 30% of productive capacity, and shipments have thus greatly decreased forward orders on the books. This was quite emphatically indicated by an announcement of the unfilled tonnage of the U. S. Steel Corporation as of May 31, 1924, which was only 3,628,089 tons. This is the lowest figure at any month since November, 1914--ten years ago--when tonnage was only 3,324,592 tons. Moreover, it represents a drop of some 580,000 tons from the figure of 4,208,447 tons on April 30, 1924. Evidently large cancellations of orders have occurred. The latest tonnage represents less than three months' capacity business. Since the War the high point in U. S. Steel bookings was reached July 31, 1920, at 11,118,468 tons. From that point, tonnage declined to 4,141,069 tons on Feb. 28, 1922, then rose to 7,403,332 tons on Mar. 31, 1923, and from that point has fallen steadily except for a brief rally last Winter.