Steel Prices Nearly Doubled In Past Year

Steel prices have almost doubled in the past year as steelmakers have passed big increases in the costs of iron ore and coking coal on to consumers.

The jump threatens to create fresh problems for manufacturers and stoke inflationary pressures in emerging markets where demand is high, driven by urbanisation in China and infrastructure spending in the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia.

It comes as the London Metal Exchange starts trading steel futures on its floor today after trials on its Select electronic system. The launch could help drive trading volumes far higher.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Mike169]

The Republicans used to blame high prices on the unions but now that steel is made off shore that excuse no longer holds. So what could the problem be? Perhaps, having stripped away all the reasons for hogh steel prices, all that remains is greed.

[truthyguy]

Didn't we use to make steel in this country?
The only things we haven't outsourced is fucking and TV pundits.

[loki]

Just why is it that when there is a so called shortage and prices go way up, so do the profits on wall street? It is costing more to buy raw product, cost more to produce, cost more to buy. So where are all the big profits from? Unless there is not such a shortage that we are lead to believe. Which I would believe. Wall Street thugs now have less regulation enforcement, the rethuglicans basically let them and corporations do whatever they want, and see how the economy , the dollar, jobs, and prices of goods have gone? Thank God we have the first MBA president in charge of this mess.. Oh wait a minute, He is one of the main reason we have this mess. Him and all his ivy greed league educated buddies who are running things in the US. Hurry, we need more yale and harvard people in government and running corporations. They sure do produce some of the most brilliant minds in the the free world.. NOT.
They produce the most greedy and selfish minds in the whole world.

[FreedomCorpse]

It doesn't matter, America doesn't build anything of value anymore anyways.

[loki]

That is why we are so dependent on other countries. Funny when you think about it, Jodan, is dependent on other countries for their survival, but they admit it and function in that manner. Where as we, who were once the country most others were dependent on, can't admit we screwed up royally, and will continue to be more and more dependent on others. If the Middle east, Mexico and China tomorrow stopped all trade with the US, we would be screwed. Dead. Kaput! Like you said, we make nothing. We would have no shoes, pants, shirts or even underwear. No computers, no Tvs, no radios, no books, much of our food, just about everything we need, even the basics of life, now either come from or are processed in other countries. We have been even losing the knowledge base needed to ever start production up again if we needed to. I dont know what the corporate and elitist grand plan is for the US, but its not a very pretty one for the majority of Americans.

[truthyguy]

Pride goeth before the fall.

[WIpatriot]

How does the price of everything nearly double in a year and yet inflation is supposedly under 5%???

[FreedomCorpse]

trust the government do ya? That was the first mistake. Go to shadowstats.com and find out the truth.

[loki]

175 bucks a year just to find out we are being screwed over?? Shadowstats.com
which appears to be about a Shadow Government and someone named John William's to profit from writing about a shadow gov. Sounds like a wanna be elitist trying to profit off of fear of the public to me. I could believe in a shadow gov, but not in someone who wants to profit off of breaking them. Thats just so, shadowy.

[gcallaghan]

It takes a mighty lot of petroleum to heat that ore. And, to oilmen, it doesn't matter much if you make the steel in Pittsburg or Bangladesh - they get their share either way. It's the republicunt way.

[gakabani]

Can someone please tell me what positive contribution Bush has made to our country?
Bush has ruined this country with his idiotic politics of war mongering.

[ibsteve2u]

What positive contribution? How about his contributions to early warning systems?

Now at least you know you're about to be raped when you hear somebody say "trickle down", "compassionate conservatism", or "a threat to the American Way of Life".

[FreedomCorpse]

Positive contribution? Ummm no. He did make a lot of republicans look dumber than a box of rocks but I don't know if that is a positive. It'll be really neat when the American economy comes down like the world trade centers... NOT.