Steel prices forcasted to go up 66%

[beenthere]

I buy over 1 millions pounds of steel per year , it has already increased 30-35% in the last 8-10 months. You can doubt all you want but it is already happening.

I repeat. Then there is a demand that causes the price to go up. And that demand is encouraging, as it says something for the economy. The OP and title was about forecasting up 66%, not what already has happened.

 

[RickB]

I repeat. Then there is a demand that causes the price to go up. And that demand is encouraging, as it says something for the economy. The OP and title was about forecasting up 66%, not what already has happened.

If you truly believe that demand is the sole driver of commodity prices, you are sorely misinformed, or more accurately, uninformed.

 

[mjarrels]

Can't be true, my government said there is no inflation.

mark

 

[Sulla]

If you truly believe that demand is the sole driver of commodity prices, you are sorely misinformed, or more accurately, uninformed.

Unfortunately RickB is correct. Right now as I type this there is a major top five investment bank with a warehouse full of copper just outside of London. We, investment advisers and others of il repute, all know it, we just don't know who. It has nothing to do with demand and everything todo with speculation.

Nothing wrong with speculation, except when it is being funded by the printing presses of the Federal Reserve. Government funded speculation leads to bubbles that burst injuring all of us. This could be the biggest Fed induced asset inflation we have seen. Yes, even bigger than housing.

And if they bail out the States I can't imagine what will ultimately happen. We ain't growing our way out of this one.

 

[qball98]

I can tell scrap prices are up lots of people hauling junk to the sale yard. Where I buy steel has had two increases since the first of the month. I don't buy a lot but it does make it hard to justify new projects.

 

[mmurphy]

I am not debating this but, just a week ago in the markets where futures are in, I read steel was going to stagnate, or drop slightly.
Who knows. The darn sky has been falling over and over the past 10 years.

 

[zzvyb6]

Maybe all those guys in China, India, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia who are making all the tractors and attachments you are buying now want some decent food, a family, housing, healthcare and a vacation. Its the value of our money (or actually, the devaluation of our money). Buy a wheelbarrow like my grandparents had to, in order to carry enough paper 'money' to get a loaf of bread. Buy it in the morning because by the afternoon you need an additional wheelbarrow.

Oh, that's right, you want the higher quality and lowest cost machinery. Since quality costs money for wages and materials and US workers generally don't work for subsistent wages, your neighborhood manufacturer went away.

Its actually that simple, not a political statement, and a neutral comment. The well is now dry because all the water (hard value) got pumped overseas.
Your dollars are now just inkjet scrap paper.

 

[jonyyuma]

For the first time, we now have steel here, "Made in Russia" stamped on the side? Jy.

 

[dmccarty]

I only skimmed the story but in yesterdays Wall Street Journal they were talking about commodity prices going up. Steel prices are increasing because of demand as well as the increased cost of coal and coke used to make the steel.

The also have a graph of consumer prices indexes around the world including the US, Europe, China, etc. The indexes are going up. China bumped down a bit over the last few months but it has been growing rapidly. The US and maybe the UK had a bump down but now the index is growing again.

The Economists are arguing if these indexes are valid in showing an increase in inflation vs other metrics show that inflation is not rising or rising much. Some of them seem to be hoping that the CPI indexes at the moment are not showing inflation. The worry is that if the CPI indexes ARE showing inflation then people will want raises to keep up with inflation, which means prices rise, and people want more pay to keep up, which means prices rise, and on and on.

Later,
Dan

 

[Sulla]

I only skimmed the story but in yesterdays Wall Street Journal they were talking about commodity prices going up. Steel prices are increasing because of demand as well as the increased cost of coal and coke used to make the steel.

The also have a graph of consumer prices indexes around the world including the US, Europe, China, etc. The indexes are going up. China bumped down a bit over the last few months but it has been growing rapidly. The US and maybe the UK had a bump down but now the index is growing again.

The Economists are arguing if these indexes are valid in showing an increase in inflation vs other metrics show that inflation is not rising or rising much. Some of them seem to be hoping that the CPI indexes at the moment are not showing inflation. The worry is that if the CPI indexes ARE showing inflation then people will want raises to keep up with inflation, which means prices rise, and people want more pay to keep up, which means prices rise, and on and on.

Later,
Dan

It also means the Fed will have to raise interest rates, letting the air out of the bubble they created. Not likely anytime soon.