June 29, 1918





RECORD  AND  GUIDE





Ti    7





823





Portland Cement Production Equals Demand

No Surplus Stocks on Hand—Government Work Requires About

23 Per Cent, of Total Output





IN order to get the latest authentic information about
material prices, availability of supply and similar topics,
the Record and Guide has just completed a thorough inves¬
tigation into the manufacture of one of the most essential
structural materials—cement—to find out what the producing
situation is, how the war has effected manufacturing supply
and cost, and the length of time that existing economic con¬
ditions might prove a detriment to the progress of building
construction.

It has been reported in the newspapers that the Govern¬
ment has issued priority certificates for Portland cement. A
dispatch to the Record and Guide from its Washington repre¬
sentative shows, however, that such is not the fact. The
authorities have agreed to give cement manufacturers a
degree of preferential treatment, in order to assure a reason¬
ably full supply. This was made conditional upon the manu¬
facturers curtailing their productions sufficiently to meet the
demands of war requirements and other needs of national
or exceptional importance. This plan, it is estimated in
Washington, means a curtailing of the normal output by
about thirty per cent.

Investigation into the conditions surrounding the produc¬
tion of Portland cement in the Lehigh Valley indicates that
although the war has created an abnormal situation in many
respects, the cement industry is operating upon a sound basis,
producing and shipping material to the maximum permitted
by the Fuel Administration, making every effort to conserve
the resources of the industry, serve its customers to the best
of its ability, and patriotically "do its bit" for the Government
in its hour of need.

The producing capacity of the Lehigh Valley Portland
cement manufacturing district is approximately 30,000.000
barrels annually, but during the past three or four years the
average annual output has been in the neighborhood of
23,000,000 barrels a year. This amount is approximately 36
per cent, of the entire cement production of the country.

Early this year the National Fuel Administration decided
that for 1918 the cement industry should be furnished with
coal sufficient to manufacture 75 per cent, of the average
output of the past three years. Owing to the difficulty in
obtaining fuel during the first three or four months of this
year, which prevented the operation of the majority of the
cement plants in the Valley during that time, it is doubtful,
even if the mills operate to their full capacity for the balance
of the year, whether they will be able to produce 75 per cent,
of their output of previous years. There has been consider¬
able curtailment in production this season, but manufacturers
are not willing to give out definite figures at this time.

Notwithstanding the lack of construction of a private nature
it is extremely doubtful if there has been a time in the history
of the Portland cement industry when manufacturers have
had a smaller stock of the finished product in reserve. Almost
all of the storage bins in the Lehigh district are cleaned out
nightly and the finished product loaded upon cars for ship¬
ment. Many of the makers are shipping their entire daily
output as it is made, and as the demand is steady there is little
likelihood of any great reserve being piled up at mill points.
At present there is a negligible amount of Portland cement
being exported to foreign ports, practically the entire mill
output is going to supply the jobbers or into war construction
and the other types of building requirements in the United
States. The railroads of the nation formerly were prominent
among the cement users, but these interests are now taking a
small quantity as they are only making road repairs of the
most essential character.

Manufacturers are agreed that there is, and will be, a
sufficient supply of cement for all building purposes and that
there cannot be a famine in this important material line.
Cement, tributary to the New York market, is readily avail¬
able and in volume sufficient to take care of any ordinary
demand, unless the Government materially increases its
present requirements. An official of one of the prominent
producing companies in the Lehigh district stated that during
the past month about 23 per cent, of the shipments from their
mills were forwarded direct to Federal building projects. As
all orders for materials to be used in Government work are
pro rated among the manufacturers according to the capacity





of their respective plants, this figure can be taken as indi¬
cating the amount of Portland cement the Government is now
taking out of the market.

It is believed that Federal requisitions of cement are likely
to become much larger than at present and that the demands
upon the industry will grow in volume as the war progresses
and the Governmental program of construction is expanded
to its maximum. Producers will not be surprised if the
Government announces that it will require the entire output
of the cement mills for a limited period, possibly for three or
four months. The Portland Cement Association pledged 100
per cent, of their output, if necessary, at any time the
Government should have need of it.

Cement manufacturers are paying higher wages today for
common labor employed in their plants than ever before, yet
they are experiencing great difficulties in holding their forces
together. Producers are paying at the rate of 32c. to 3Sc. per
hour for a ten-hour day, with time and one-half for overtime,
and double time for Sundays and holidays, which is about 100
per cent, above the scale in force prior to the war. Yet they
lose men to other plants in the district who offer wages con¬
siderably higher than the scale paid in the cement mills. The
Bethlehem Steel Company, located in the heart of the cement
producing district, and other foundry and manufacturing cor¬
porations have immense war contracts, are steadily draining
the cement industry of its man power by offering work at the
rate of 44c. and 45c. per hour for common labor. These con¬
cerns have been offering as high as $8.50 per day for skilled
mechanics, carpenters, masons, plumbers and other trades.

Military enlistments and the selective draft have also added
to the labor difficulties of the cement manufacturing industry.
A large percentage of the men employed in these plants were
of military or draft age, and the number of draftees added to
the high percentage of voluntary enlistments from this
district has resulted in intensifying the labor shortage.

At present, and for some time past, there has been prac¬
tically no difficulty in obtaining all the coal required to
operate cement plants in the Lehigh Valley. Fuel shipments
are now coming through in excellent volume and reasonable
time and without the assistance of Federal priority orders.
Some of the manufacturers using a slag anthracite are even
able to store up considerable tonnage against the time when
freight, transportation and mining problems might again
interfere with their obtaining the required supply. Users of
high gas bituminous coal are unable to store supplies in any
great quantity, owing to the inflammability of high gas coal,
which is a constant menace to the plant. These producers
depend upon a steady supply of fuel from the mines.

The mounting cost of fuel has been one of the principal
reasons for the steady advance in price of Portland cement.
Before the war, slag anthracite was selling at the mine mouth
for 75c. a ton and plus the freight and handling brought the
delivered cost up to about $2.50 a ton. At present the same
quality of coal is costing, delivered, in the neighborhood of
$6.00 a ton and this price is likely to increase. As it requires
about 160 pounds of coal to produce a barrel of Portland
cement it can be readily seen how this increase has effected
cement prices.

Packing costs have also been prominent among the influ¬
ences that have advanced the cost of cement to the consumer.
Prior to 1914 the cost of bags made from seven-ounce cotton
duck, generally used in cement bags, was 8c. or 8^c. each per
bag. Now bags made of the same quality of material cost
about 30c. each. The rebate that manufacturers allow for
returned bags is 10c. each.

Paper bags of a quality strong enough to stand the strain
required before the war cost about 2^c. each. At the present
time producers pay $60 a thousand or 6c. each for bags bo
poor in quality as to make the safe arrival of cement at its
destination problematical.

According to the present outlook producers of Portland
cement predict that the price of their commodity will not
recede from its present high level for a long time to come.
Production, packing and shipping expenses are steadily
mounting, as are wages, and the producers expect to pass
these additional costs along to the jobbers and the ultimate
consumers.