We have been told by every supplier in the last month that steel prices are on the rise again. I tend to wonder why in the midst of the worse economy in my lifetime they feel it is necessary to raise prices. So we did a little research into what is behind the steel price hike. Turns out that “steel production declined about 5% in February from January. And it declined across the board in China, other developing countries and the developed world. The appearance of decline January to February is caused by the upward restatement of January’s data. The good news is that the growth from December to January is now much stronger than I stated in the last steel production bulletin – rising from 1.8% December to January to a restated 6.1%. And contrary to the developed world growing substantially faster than the developing world as I stated then, China grew 10% from December to January and the developing world as a whole grew at 6%.” (2010, www.nerdsofsteel.com) So, to sum up, they decreased the production of steel because less people were buying in January 2010, then more people started buying in Febraury and March, now there is a shortage and the prices will rise again. Seems simple enough, but somehow the prices never dip back down too much. We will work hard to keep the CNC Machining prices low, but you will have to fight like the rest of us about your alloy, stainless, and mild steel prices.