Steelwork contractors are warning that steel plate prices have soared in the last week as the war in Ukraine impacts on raw material supplies.
The crisis has hiked prices from around £1,000 a tonne to £1,400 a tonne in a matter of days. And now some steelwork firms have raised the alarm that supplies are drying up with many steel mills no longer taking orders.
Shortages are arising because both Russia and Ukraine produce steel billets, used as raw feedstock for European mills.
A source said: “Everybody is locking down their supply chains to maintain throughput into the Summer months and then hope to go again from there.”
Another steelwork contractor told the Enquirer: “We have received nothing formal, as we do from British Steel, however within three days the rate on plate increased £300 per tonne with some suppliers refusing to quote.
“We have been fortunate with our suppliers and secured plate to service our existing orders.”
The director also warned that steel sections could be the next to see suffer big price jumps.
“We have also received information that main steel sections are to increase another £200 a tonne, however we have received nothing formal to date.
“We have agreed rates for all of our current orders, hopefully they will honour them.”
Another said: “At the moment things are still stable. A lot of clients bought early because of last year’s price volatility so a lot of bridge work is in the fabrication yards.
“We had hopes of a brighter 2022, seeing some stability with material prices. We have a strong order book already for the new financial year, now we face more increases and potential shortages.”
This article was posted on www.constructionenquirer.com
National Tools UK is a digital procurement solution for the Construction industry. Connecting Contractors nationally, to Suppliers locally for Tool, Plant & Equipment Hire and Purchasing of Building Materials & Products for site.
The Construction industry has traditional problems to overcome during the procurement process such as too many Touch Points, Rising Costs, Lack of Compliance, Social Value requirements and servicing New Locations.
The National Tools UK platform allows seamless matching of Contractors and Suppliers, with simplicity at the core. Achieved by using an All in One Place Dashboard, Filtered Matching Process, Live Chat, Archives and data driven Reporting.
The platform offers an instant matching process for Contractors and Suppliers, makes the most of existing agreements and new relationships whilst allowing both parties to remain in control with an easy to use dashboard.
Visit our website here: www.ntuk.co.uk
