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872 RECORD AND GUIDE November 9, 1912 BUILDINGJIATERIALS Sand to Advance Ten Cents January 1 —Cement Demand Light. Distributors Send Sleuths Into Brick Manufacturing Districts to Discover Available Quantities on Hand—Little Call for Building Stone—Slow Metal Embarrasses Fabricators—Coal Situa¬ tion Aggravating to Building Manag¬ ers—Car Shortage Hits Lumber. THE straws which point the way the building material zephyrs blow were found in preliminary reports of detect¬ ives sent up the river to discover how much a reserve supply the manufacturers have. Every common brick plant in the eastern district is now closed for the season, with not more than 1,000,000,000 as the season's output. Of this total 900,000,000 came in by barge load, the remainder by schooner. This will make the available quantity of brick in the North River district approximately 350,- 000,000 to last until the new brick mak-; ing season opens. This figure excludes brick in shed that has been contracted for. Bluntly speaking, this is not enough brick to meet current require¬ ments. Prices, therefore, of Hudson river brick will be higher than present prices, plus covering charges in March and April, Turning to the Raritan riv¬ er manufacturing center, the heavy drains of the past season, coupled with bad weather conditions and a scarcity of labor, have combined to prevent the accumulation of even a healthy normal supply and there is not any too many brick on hand to supply the probable winter's requirements. Portland cement is not in heavy de¬ mand now. The dealers are well cov¬ ered in this district, which accounts for the few sales reported at the new $1.58 level. But this does not imply that this price is weak. Mills have less than nor¬ mal stocks on hand and there is a heavy prospective winter demand. While it is always unconservative to predict price trends in the Portland cement field, there is every reason to believe that as the season wears on greater stiffness will be reported in this department. Building managers who came into the market this week for steam sizes of coal found a rising market. Those cov¬ ered for the year on contracts, of course, are protected in a measure, but even they, are up against the stiffening mar¬ ket, only in an indirect, instead of a direct, way. Many managers who con¬ tract for their coal by the year have the railroads for themselves as parties of the first part. A reservation usually is made making it optional with the rail¬ road whether they will deliver from the Jersey City freight yards or not. Just now they are not delivering and some managers holding such contracts are paying cartage, although they are get¬ ting their coal at the contract price agreed upon early in the summer. The railroads are now accused of holding back on shipments, whereas a few weeks ago the coUeries were accused of crimp¬ ing production. The railroads declare they are shipping as fast as they can, btit that the shortage of cars, coupled with heavy reserve buying on the part of manufacturers and building managers, is really responsible for the slow trans¬ portation afforded this commodity. Sand is scheduled to move up ten cents a cyd., on January first td fifty cents, to proper dock. New York, in¬ cluding Gowanus canal, Newtown creek and Harlem river. Increased demand, due to vast quantity of new concrete Work required for the new subway, higher cost of mining and increased cost of transporting the sand, owing to higher prices of coal and labor, have combined to make the new price level imperative. Lumber users are complaining about the difficulty of getting cars enough to ship the finished products of the mills to market, and so acute has this become that some mills are facing a shut-down unless they can move their stock more rapidly and, indeed, actual cases of shut¬ down have been reported to the New York Lumber Trade Association. Fabricators of structural steel are re¬ porting an increasing difficulty in get¬ ting shapes from the mills and in con¬ sequence they are embarrassed in their deliveries here. The slowness of steel receipts at six out of every ten building operations in the district is solely re- responsible for the unprecedented condi¬ tion now prevailing of generally stiffen¬ ing price levels with a sharp restriction in volume of materials moving. BRICK BUYING HE.VVIER. .*1I Plants No-nr Closed for the Season— Reserves Ijl{:;ht. COMMON brick -was In a more active market this week. All of the brick plants in the North and Karitan River districts closed for the season. Conse¬ quently the market is now being- supplied from sheds and buying is increasingly ac¬ tive owing to the short time between now and closing of navigation. The market for common brick is short. Buying, how¬ ever, is cautious. Last week the sales and arrivals of North River common brick were even as far as numbers were con¬ cerned, and the current week opened strong. Transactions last -week for Hudson River common brick with comparisons for the corresponding week in 1911 fol¬ low-; 1912. LEFT OVER, OCTOBER 28-38. Arrived. Sold Monday .................... 29 15 Tuesday .................... 5 10 "Wednesday '4................ 7 6 Thursday ................... 9 12 Friday ..................... 7 15 Saturday ................... 8 9 Totals .................... 67 67 Condition of market, strengthening. Prices, Hudson River, $6.75 to $7.25. Basic, $6.78%. Raritans, $6.76 to $7. Basic, $6.78%. (.Wholesale, dock. New Tork. Add cartage and dealer's profit in estimating retail prices.) Left over, November 4-30. 1911. LEFT 0"VER, OCTOBER 30-19. Arrived. Sold Monday ..................... 18 10 Tuesday .................... 2 12 AVednesdav ................. 7 15 Thursday ................... 16 10 Friday ..................... 7 10 Saturday .................... 6 4 Totals ................... 56 61 Condition of market, quiet. Prices. Hudson and Raritan, $7. Left over, No¬ vember 5-14. BUILDING METALS DE1,A"\'ED. Inability to Get Strnctnral Steel Embar¬ rasses Steel Constructors Here. THE slo-wness of deliveries from steel mills to jobs in all parts of the East, but especially in the metropolitan dis¬ trict, is responsible for a sluggishness in actual erecting work that has become very noticeable during the last few weeks. It seems inconceivable that with steel prices soaring because of increased demand, with the railroads choked on their deliveries, and prices of all building commodities in this market moving up in price and mills practically all sold up for several months ahead, that actual con¬ struction work in this city to-day is slug¬ gish. Tet such is the case. Steel erectors are only about tliree-fifths employed or are employed only a few days out of the week pending arrival of steel, and the re¬ sult is that bricklayers, stone-setters and other artisans are idle in larger propor¬ tion than the volume of new work com¬ ing out would seem to indicate could be possible. Admission was made by structural mills this week that they were eight weeks be¬ hind in their shipments, but this only came when they were face to face with another advance in the price of pig Iron, which probably will be formally, quoted on or about the middle of next week. Complaints are heard of unusually high estimates being filed on fabrication and erection of structural steel, due partly to the scarcity of prompt steel and partly to the difficulty in securing labor. Con¬ tracts being closed for plates are taken now subject to "earliest possible" ship¬ ment. SAND GOES UP 10c. JAN. 1. Current Stiffness. Due to Heavy Deniand, makes Increase Necessary. THE latest building commodity to fol¬ low the lead of other departments in upward movement of prices is that of sand. 'Whereas the price current of stand¬ ard washed Cow Bay sand last year at this time was 35c. and 40c., it is 45c. to¬ day, and on January 1 a new winter level of 50c. will go into effect. These prices are for deliveries alongside of proper New Tork harbor dock in scow-load quantities. The scow-load prices at Har¬ lem River, Newtown Creek and Gowanus Canal are now five cents higher. After January 1, the fifty cent quotation will cover all points in New Tork harbor. The cause of this shifting in price is the tremendous amount of concrete work and building construction now going on here, the exceptionally heavy prospective building movement during the winter as shown by reports from architects and builders, the high cost of mining and in¬ creased cost of transporting sand, due. In part, to higher cost of coal and labor. CAR SHORT.IGE HITS LUMBER. Smaller Plants Threatened with Shnt- Don-n Because Unable to Ship. THE car shortage is beginning to be seriously felt by the lumber inter¬ ests. Some of the smaller mills are threatened with enforced shut-down be¬ cause they are unable to ship their stocks, and several are reported to have already closed temporarily. The com¬ panies having larger resources, however, are able to ship, but their capacities are sold so far ahead that new business is not being sought. Upward prices are the rule rather than the exception. White pine is firming again on No. 1 and No. 2 cuts, shaky clear, No. 2 dressing, shelving, barn and box. North Carolina pine is one of the scarcest items in the lumber list, and buyers are having trouble to get ship¬ ments even on old orders. All the stock on hand at the mills is sold, but cannot be shipped for lack of cars. This condi¬ tion can only result, if prolonged, in the closing down of more plants, which in turn will further stiffen prices about April 1, Hard -woods, like other lines, are shift¬ ing upward sharply. During October thick ash, common ash and birch ad¬ vanced $1 to $3, chestnut about a dollar, maple $1 to $2, and low grades of poplar about $1. Further advances between now and April 1 are reasonably sure. Tellow pine is moving up fast. The price has already advanced $1 to $2. A raise of another dollar within the next sixty days is now looked upon as certain because of the car shortage. Hemlock is steady at its new $23 Penn¬ sylvania price level reported last week. Cypress is firm, and another advance is looked for on or about January 1, ac¬ cording to advices received by this de¬ partment from the Southern Cypress Manufacturers' Association this week. Spruce Is being taken in this city al¬ most as fast as it arrives. It is strong at current list prices both on immediate and future deliveries. Lath is now quoted at $4.25 wholesale. AIAN.VGERS WORRIED OVER COAL. Complaint Is Heard That Railroads Are Holding Back on Shipments from Mines. BUILDING managers in the market this week for buckwheat Nos. 1 and 2, Pea, and other steam coals, found prices stiffer. The explanation they re¬ ceived for this condition of affairs was the fact that instead of coal being short at the mines railroads were short of cars and could not ship, according to their contract. Companies contracting with railroads direct for coal in this market were con¬ fronted with the reserved stocks permit¬ ting railroads to deliver only to Jersey City yards. This meant that the consum¬ ers were obliged to do their hauling, which was equivalent to the higher price that new comers in the field had to meet. Prices are Inclined to go up further.