Buyers say steel creates big woes
Staff -- Purchasing, 4/1/2004 2:00:00 AM
In case you have been hibernating, prices for a wide range of steel products have surged in recent weeks, with the most popular products having additional surcharges—due to shortages and high prices of raw materials—tacked on.
"Steel pricing has gone nuts!" says a purchasing manager in California. Many metal-using manufacturers currently are unable to provide firm pricing on their products due to volatility in the costs and availability of their raw materials. The materials control manager at a Georgia firm contends, "Profit taking by the steel producers is effecting our ability to maintain pricing or margins."
"The unexpectedly strong revival in U.S. manufacturing activity has coupled with strong growth in China to boost demand for steel, and has led to tight materials used in steelmaking," says Mark McMullen, senior economist at Economy.com. "Also, the weaker dollar has served to increase the price of imported steel."
"Actually," says a purchasing manager in New Jersey, "higher prices are widespread on most metals. For us, business is good, but the cost of raw materials is rising too fast." Seventy-eight percent of metals buyers polled in March by PURCHASING reported paying higher prices than they did in February.
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