Looking for a bench - What to get?

[malcolm]

It appears to be speculation that's driving up the prices of oil, steel, even food. Stock market not doing great, credit crunch messed up banks, so all the money is going into commodities. I find it quite shocking that the system is set up to allow that to happen.

Shortages occur because of the rate of price increase. If you have a warehouse full of steel and you reckon you'll make more selling it tomorrow rather than today then you'll sell it tomorrow. They'll get bored of it all when banks start picking up again.

<May the steel of speculators go rusty>

 

[storm monkey]

On top of that is still the issue that demand is very high from China in particular, and production rates are reaching their upper limits of capacity. If more people want steel, and there isn't enough, prices rise.

Phil

 

[English Steve]

As a manufacturing company which relies heavily on steel, we are being forced to stock-pile. By buying three months normal usage of material, we will potentially save in excess of £25000.00 assuming the forecasted increase is correct. This will also ensure that we can continue production for that period with no shortages.
In the haulage industry, it is not possible to keep pushing cost increases onto the end customer - they simply make their existing fleet run a bit longer and don't buy new until maintenance and repair costs become prohibitive.

It is a chicken and egg thing - the more companies stock-pile, the harder it becomes to buy steel, so companies stock-pile a bit more ... and as Malcolm said, there are always those who will take the opportunity to speculate on the market

 

[Baz-Cem]

I'm just starting out with my wrought iron business and if prices keep going up I won't in business very long