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Who stole all the steel?
Oh, and what do we do with all of those concrete anchors that may no longer meet the ACI performance standard?
In developing this article we talked to a number of the key players in construction fastening. Without exception, they began the conversation with one common concern: steel. We have never encountered this degree of unanimity before and it is an indication of the breadth and significance of the problem. The second problem: anchors that may no longer qualify for use in many concrete applications, was raised by several leading anchor suppliers.
Relative Lo an increasingly serious steel situation, it's not just the accelerating cost (price increases of 60% reported), but it's the scarcity-with scarcity as the more serious concern (steel allocations and surcharges were mentioned by several). As more than one put it: "What difference does the price make if you can't get it?"
Steel shortages over any extended period of time can have a dampening effect on a construction industry that's poised for a turnaround.
So where did all the steel go? Apparently that growing dragon in the Far East has developed an insatiable appetite. Ralph Schweibish, President of I.S.C., Pompano Beach, Florida, reports hearing that China is consuming 25% of the world's steel output for its infrastructure and other internal needs. Others set the figure as high as 35%. To support its own steel production needs, China is buying up all available iron and steel scrap, including, according to one report, the tons of scrap from the World Trade Center. There's something that seems immoral about that sale even if it was economically justified.
Worldwide scarcity does, of course, produce worldwide price increases, both on steel raw materials and on products produced from steel-including imported construction fasteners.
The increasing cost of imports is further exacerbated by the decline of the dollar on world markets.
If there is a silver lining in this cloud it is that the shackles on prices have been loosened. The construction fastener industry has reluctantly absorbed a lot of cost increases over the past few years because of the price floor established by imports and the resistance of customers fighting to preserve their own shrinking profits. Current steel increases are too large...