Hamond Times

The price of steel has been dropping somewhat over the last 6 months or so (more for hot rolled and thick, cheap stuff, less for cold rolled, thin and fancy stuff that most of our spring steel parts are made from).

Steel companies have been trying to shore up prices (which they like to keep high, natch) by taking capacity out of the system, shutting down production facilities for maintainance and leaving them down for longer than necessary, etc.

Now a natural disaster seems to be helping them along in keeping prices high. The storm has disrupted shipping. But New Orleans is also the home of significant zinc reserves (used for zinc plating and for galvanizing) and some significant amount of hydrogen gas (used in some cold rolled steel processes) production.

Whether this is really the panic they're making it out to be remains to be seen, but it does serve their interests to use this as an rational, at least for now, for keeping steel prices up.

marketwatch.com
The price of steel used to make cars and industrial equipment is expected to rise as much as 40% in coming months, or up to $80 a ton, partly because of Hurricane Katrina damage in the New Orleans area, according to a media report Wednesday.
Flooding has limited the supply and distribution of liquid hydrogen and scrap steel, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. Scrap is used to make basic steel; liquid hydrogen is used to make higher-quality products such as galvanized and cold-rolled steel. Concrete reinforcing bar, or rebar, also is expected to rise.
The flooding-created price increase, estimated at 20%, comes atop previously announced 20% price increases by steelmakers