Any comments from those in the auto or other trades about steel prices?

[cdFxer]

I work for a company that uses quite a bit of rolled and flat stainless steel, galvanised, coated, etc. Steel prices are out the roof! And quality of what we are getting is not very good. Id almost hate to buy a car made from some of this stuff (granted what we use is not used in vehicles). The thickness varies all over the place (well over the +- 0.005 we spec), magnetic properties are bizarre, electrical properties are odd as well. I was wondering what the automible makers are doing? Bought it all on contract, so its no big deal? Or???I was just asking in here cuz several of y'all sound like you have your fingers on the automible makers pulse edit...OOPS...WRONG forum....meant to put this in the OFF TOPIC....must of been a loose nut behind the keyboard that made me do it...

[ToolGuy]

Oh yeah, we have been feeling the pain for months now! Most of our tools are made of 4140 steel and then it is heat treated. We are looking and always do, at alternatives but there are just not that many. Plastics or aluminum are good for some tools but we cannot use it on the majority. The main reason is China (not flaming, just the truth). China has been buying up all the scrap steel at alarming rates to build more infrastructure. Our leadtimes for delivery have suffered too of course because of this. Just plain sucks...

[Atomb]

I'm a metallurgist that has about a decade experience in the steelmaking industry (I used to work for a steelmill in the US!)Essentially, the issue is with supply and demand (obviously!) The chinese are increasing their demand for steel at a rate of approx 1000 tons/day. As a result, the current world capacity is just making it. But that results in increased prices. The poor quality comes from steel producers and the way they segment their grades/quality. For example, we would produce Grade G steel. But, while producing Grade G, there were certain aspects to the process that would have us group all the Grade G steel into groups of quality level (i won't go into detail). So that you can have Grade G Quality 1 through Grade G Quality 5 (being lowest). They all satisfy the Grade specifications, Quality 5 is steel that came from, or was subjected to, lower quality processes. (again i'll withhold the details for clarity).Many (if not all) of the auto manufacturers have long term contracts with their steel producers which state that they will receive Grade G Quality 1 (or 2) only. There are rigorous inspections standards and we used to have to show them what processes their steel went through to prove that the steel fell into Grade G Quality 1 (or 2), (not to mention serious consequences if their steel failed like a Quality 3-5!!!)The lower quality Grade G stuff is sold to distributors to sell to smaller scale manufactures. Sometimes you'll see this discrepency when you compare OEM auto panels to aftermarket panels and how quickly they rust or fail. They are both the same "Grade" but just different quality level as the aftermarket company did not strike a contract specifying the higher quality level.There may be a slight relationship between the chinese signing up contracts for Grade G Quality 1, leaving lower grades for distributors (where in the past the there would be some QUality 1 steel availble for the distributors), but the major auto makers have already signed long term contracts for their "Grade G QUality 1" steel so there shouldn't be a concern with our cars....These contracts also fixed price at certain levels so it's not until these contracts expire should we see decreased margins for automakers appear as the steelmills re-sign at higher prices to compensate for demand from China. Then again, China is building/increases steel capacity within their country at an AMAZINGLY high rate right now...so they will most likely be producing the stuff for themselves pretty soon...not all of their demand, but a lot of it!(this should be in off topic...but it's interesting enough to stay in General forum i guess?)

[Zalmaxiss]

The company I work for does have a contract with our supplier so we dont feel the sting as much as some smaller companies. We are locked in at a set rate, although that rate is still higher than it used to be.

[pmh013]

I've recently gotten back into having to be concerned with steel prices. Back in April I worked for an agricultural implement manufacturer. We heard the same thing for three years straight "The price of steel is going up." And it did. Stainless is the worst ... so bloody expensive!Currently, I'm working on a manufacturing project where I'll be sending out PO's for steel components. Ouch ... that's gonna hurt. I'll need to use some of my feminine charms for sure to try and twist a few salesguys' arms and get the price to lower just a little. I hope that we don't get the short end of the stick on quality ... this plant is going up less than a mile from my house!

[russ257]

3% steel surcharge on New Holland tractors