These are the first official advances announced since the beginning of the year, since the previous No. 2 Order issued in September carried on ihe reduced price list which had been effective since January 1 la On that date pig iron wes cut by 7s. 6d. per ton, billets by 10s., joists and sections by 12s. 6d., re-rolled products by 12s. or 18s, depending on testing, and sheets by 20s.
The new Order will continue in force until further notice. This is a, war-time breakaway from the es-hed steel trade policy of naming prices Yor a stated time ahea Price control is, under the Ministry of Supply, ihe executive functions of the British Iron and Steel Federation having been! superseded.
Steel and iron were previously fixed, since the advent of central organization, for a full year. This period. was adjusted to six months at the beginning of the year and was then carried on for a further term of four months, ending on October 31.
The fixing of this date apparently indicates that price changes in future in normal conditions may be made at the height of the spring and autumn trade movements to minimise market disturbances.
Under the new order the definitions ^f certain commodities like ore, manganese ore, and ferry-alloys, have and for the first time es have been laid down for home produced iron ore, mill cinder and scale, {foundry andj forge pig-iron in certain areas, high speed steel, wire, forgings, steel castings, tyres, axles, solid wheels, and iron castings.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.