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Show RECORD BUYING OF DOMESTIC COPPER FEATURES TRADING Business in Zinc Better in Sympathy With Vast Movement of Red Metal; London Situation Forces Lead to Recede; Silver Sags From the Engineering and Mining Journal . . NKW YORK CITY Heavy sales of copper for export featured the metal marke is in the last week, ending May 21, foreign consumers consum-ers buying their full allotment every day. The domestic demand quieted down greatly, to the proportions of an average week, after the txeiied .market of a week ago, and the price now seems fairly well stabilized at the Lie, delivered, level. Demand for ' the other major nonferrous metals was below normal, with current price-lower price-lower than a week ago for lead, silver and tin. The last-named1 oti Tuesday sold at a ihw low since 1922. Zinc, however, so far, allows i,4. no disposition to drop below 4.C0c The minor metals are unchanged with the exception of a continued upward trend in quicksilver prices, little or no metal now being be-ing available for less than $120 per flask. Copper sold generally general-ly at 13c with the exception of last Thursday when copper in substantial tonnuge sold as low as 12 l-2c, delivered Connecticut valley. The major portion of the week's sales have been at the 13c level, which is generally quoted by producers. Scattering lots on Friday, Saturday and Monday sold ut 12.70 at 12.90c, but their total tonnage was not sufficient to bring the daily weighted price below 13c delivered. Domestic demand got back to the level of two weeks ago somewhat better bet-ter than in the early weeks of the year, but not 10 per cent of last week's total. Foreign buyers however, have taken all they could get, many demanding even larger allotments. As a result of the export business, which hat continued excellent ever Rinee the price was reduced, it is now 13.30 c.if., the total up to today was large enough to indicate that the record of 91.273 long tons set in May, 1928, is likely to be eclipsed by a considerable margin iu Mav 1930. Copper Stocks Large In spite of the excellent foreign fore-ign and domestic buying that has been stimulated by the price cuts, producers continue to have considerable con-siderable unsold copper on their hands, and so far as can be learned learn-ed are not even considering any increase in production rates. Manufacturers Man-ufacturers reorfr that the early rush of buying of copper and copper cop-per alloy products, coincident with the drop in price, is over, but that they are continuing to get a satisfactory volume of orders, or-ders, considering the current industrial in-dustrial depression. They are not buying copper except' as needed to cover orders, and there is more of a tendency to anticipate rather than postpone shipment on copper cop-per already purchased. United States copper consumption for the first quarter, according to the A. B. M. S., with corresponding figures fig-ures for the first quarter of 1929 in parentheses, follow: Electrica. manufacturers 53.000 tons, 52,000 automobiles 11,000, 15,500; manur facturers for export, 15,300 22,-300. 22,-300. Weekly average, 12,738c. |