Can someone explain why the price of steel has tripled in the last six months?

All construction material has at least doubled.

Supply chain issues and tariffs.

steel and lumber not going down... not doubting you but

can anyone confirm

and the cheap dollar after all the spending Trump, Pelosi and McConnell did the last 12 months.

There are several factors playing into it... factories were shut down bc of COVID... they’re coming back online, but they’re not ramping up to meet demand. Demand is high bc of the backlog created by the shutdown. It’s a cycle that just needs to play itself out.

I’m sure tariffs are playing into it as well... but this is almost entirely due to COVID and the shutdown/ramp up.

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Can someone explain why the price of steel has tripled in the last six months?

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demand has increased or supply has decreased

Can I answer anything else for you?

another increase is coming in 2 days

The northern US is run by liberal governors. They are out of control with COVID restrictions. Unless you have been up there , it’s difficult to describe the differences. They literally are shut down. Our offices up there are all working from home and don’t travel. Offices in the south are open , with voluntary work from home. 25-30 percent work from home. Everyone else is at the office. The contrast is unbelievable. If we have a conf call with any of the folks that work up there or people within our sphere of business, they can’t believe we are in the office. They can’t comprehend it, that how crazy the control is up there.

Building materials due to natural disasters as well. Nobody talks about that serattio or whatever that swept through Iowa, but it took out every barn and silo in its path.
Not to mention hurricanes and flood.

Lumber was $5.15 under Trump now it’s over $15. Crazy inflation coupled with booming supply chain changes out of China which is fueling new construction projects overseas.