With sheet iron prices of $210 a ton, short structual iron, under 5 feet, at $250 a ton, cast iron at $220, and long iron, over 5 feet, at $210 a ton steel is getting popular around here as well. Im waiting to see jobsites have small equipment buckets, rebar, and other easy to move pieces of iron to come up missing.
I dont think this is going to last much longer. A lot of the metal prices going up has to do with China preparing for next years olympics. A lot of the talk is that once the olympics happen, China is going to back its economic growth. It would only make sense that a country that seeks to control their population would want to limit prosperity. They are already seeing uprising in areas that the government is not liked, such as Tibet.
Another thing that seems to be driving the comodity market is itself. You see oil go up, then the others start following. Coupled with a weak dollar, the markets drive higher. Top that off, with a public and government backed grain ethanol program, you see the price of farm comodites shoot thru the roof. So much for the cheap source of fuel from the amber waves of fuel, or is it grain? At last report, consumer prices were only expected to raise 2.5%. Id like to see where that is going on because around here inflation of 2.5% would be welcomed. Eggs up 40% in the last year tells the story of food items. Tack fuel on top of that, it cant lead to sustained growth for anything
