Tuesday, May 24, 2005

High Gas prices, High Steel prices.......

Where does it all end? Everyone is complaining of high gas prices because it effects all of us, but there are other industries that have been hit hard as well. Steel for instance is sky high right now.

As the owner of a fabrication shop we feel that pain all the time. I bought a sheet of stainless steel yesterday for a customer and paid nearly $200. Of course I have to pass that on to my customer, who is a dear friend.

So if you go to buy something like a ladder rack, tool box, trailer, or anything else made of steel cringe, but don't complain. Just realize that we are paying high prices to our steel dealer, and they in turn are paying high prices and sir charges to the steel manufacturers.

There are so many other things that have been driven sky high because of circumstance out of anyone's control, such as lumber has been effected by some of the natural disasters we have experienced in the last couple years. Recently it was tomatoes, which are starting to make a come back in price and quality. It's not that these industries are trying "rip people off," as I sometimes here, but they have to pay the bills too. A profit is also necessary for a business to survive, for those of you who think it's just a crime for a business to make a profit.

Okay I'll stop ranting and just say this. Support your local businesses, and realize there is a person behind that business who is most likely trying to support a family. Then that leads to another post another day about big corporations vs. The little local guy.

2 comments:

Word Tosser said...

Add cement to that list. The price hasn't gone up yet. But the supply and demand is getting worse, so the price will be the next. Seems Portland Cement isn't producing enough, so it is getting harder and harder for the contractor to get the cement when he needs it. They have to order weeks to months ahead of time.

Untangled Family Roots said...

yea, I just saw that this afternoon after I posted this. Amazing isn't it.

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