ABSTRACT
Before the Pittsburgh-plus practice was adopted by the steel mills, steel was sold on a Pittsburgh zone-plus system. A large consumer of steel at Minneapolis proceeded to break the zone system. He bought a heavy consignment of steel to be delivered at a station in the Wisconsin zone at $1.00 per ton less than the delivered price in the Minnesota zone. There are certain other facts regarding the steel market which should be stated in order to appreciate the Pittsburgh-plus practice. Rolled steel products have been remarkably standardized and these standards are perfectly known in the trade, including chemical content, shapes, sizes, weights and extras. The Steel Corporation made its answer to the charge of discrimination by asserting that Pittsburgh was the point of surplus production of steel, whereas Chicago and other points did not produce enough to satisfy their local demands.
