Steel prices worldwide going up!

[mahlers]

I'm just glad that we're starting to put a good value on scrap steel - around my parts people are actually starting to recycle junk steel rather than throw it into the land-fill or let it rot behind their sheds or in their front yards. It used to cost me a bundle to have someone come out and haul off all the old scrap around my place, and now they'll haul it off for free and sell it to the recycler for a reasonable price. Scrap steel prices might be going up, but I see a big advantage for those of us who want our neighbors to get rid of all the dead cars sitting in front of their places /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[fishstixtwo]

I work in a ductile iron foundry, and the price of steel scrap is having a very bad effect on our business. We buy what is called premium scrap (clean steel punchings, steel slitter, etc.) the chemistry of this steel must meet our standards. Every load is tested befor dumped in our yard, if it doesn't pass it's rejected. Our castings machine very well, some of our customers are with us just for that reason. They get extended tool life and reduced machining time. Over the past 5 years we have seen a lot of work go to Mexico, Brazil, and China. Some has come back, Most has not. We hear the storys about the low quality of the chinese castings, but the price just keeps the world comming back for more. The bottom line here is , we can't use junk cars,etc in our foundry like they do. They are buying everything, Causing a huge increace in the price of the stuff we use. We can't pass this on to our customers, as a result our bottom line gets thinner and thinner.

 

[mahlers]

In any of these 'evolutions' in our economy, there's going to be bad and good. I feel your pain with the offshore pricing pressure - the same thing is going on in my line of work where offshore technical people are half the price of locals and corporations are too short-sighted to realize there *is* a difference in end product.

As always, it comes down to an exercise in positioning and market education. Right now, they're not seeing the value in quality steel parts made locally - but wait 'till the repair and replacement costs start hitting their bottom line and reputation. That's when your company will undoubtedly get a fair price for your products and hopefully make up for the unreasonable pricing pressure you're experiencing now. Hopefully the marketing folks out there are smart enough to start really pushing the value benefits of high-quality steel vs. cheap stuff.

This is going to be just like what hit the American auto industry in the 70's. They realized pretty quick that cheap parts and materials might be good for quarter-to-quarter earnings, but in the long-term they almost got killed by imports that had reliability as their goal. I think that lesson is still fresh in the minds of big manufacturers.

 

[nomad]

Two things; 1. Globalization 2. Free Market

When these two are combined as its happening in this decade I think we will see more than this steel price increase in the Global Free Market.

 

[nomad]

This was the 1st post about "steel prices going up", posted on January 8th. 2 months ago, I had warned people about buying their needs asap. So, who have bought what in last 2 months? Now, it's too late. Prices are 20-30% higher depending on the item.

 

[yooperdave]

Steel prices are up 100% since December with no let up in sight. China is buying everything and anything.

China is building more than anyone else. The Chinese economy is supposed to eclipse ours in 8-10 years.

Yooper Dave

 

[AndyM]

<font color="blue"> The Chinese economy is supposed to eclipse ours in 8-10 years. </font>

Which one will be the third world country then?

 

[nomad]

We have seen "Energy source Wars" in last decades.
Now, this is a completely new approach, a new global war and I call it "Material Wars", first started by Chinese philosophers. Great.

Energy Wars and Material Wars - hand to hand. Lets see which war wins.

By the way, it's a rumor that another wave of material price increase is coming if it's not a speculation.

 

[SPIKER]

boy kinda makes "STAR WARS" sounds like regan should have made more effort for global protection!? lol

Mark

 

[HayDR]

Nomad,
It is your prediction of steel price to increase? LOL.... You and Al Gore invented the internet, too. Did you predict how much you would lose in commissions for fighting with manufacturers in Turkey?