Last August I was buying 3/4" emt for .24/ft. Today the counter price I was quoted was .55/ft.

It's going to be a tough year to mantain margins.

Our purchasing dept has told estimating to careful how and what they bid.

We may not be able to get Steel raceway at any price for awhile.

Some sort of steel mine closing.

I checked "Home Cheepo" today for prices (usually they are lower on pipe and wire than the major supply stores around here.)

1/2 emt $1.99
3/4 emt $4.00

14/2 rx $22.50
12/2 rx $31.50
14/3 rx $35.50

#12 thhn stranded $29.50



My contact at the local supplier says they can't use the price in the computer system anymore. They have to call the buyers at the main office.

PVC still remains cheap though.

I've heard China is buying every piece of steel they can. Watch out, their economy is booming.

Big Orage Box was $1.17/10' 1/2" EMT and $2.79/10' 3/4" when I checked just a few weeks ago (maybe 3 months).

Yeesh.

We are having big issues with suppliers not wanting to issue pricing on anything with steel in it or Wire due to the prices of Copper and Steel.

My brother works for a Large Mine here in Ontario and he said that the Chinese are buying up "slurry" (unrefined ore) from small mines {and scrap steel}that do not have their own smelters.
They are stock piling the stuff and it's driving up the prices here.

Walrus is correct, if somebody does not start watching this stuff we are all in be trouble, both sides of the border.

On a side note: I read somewhere (October or November 2003) that "FORD" is moving 1 billion dollars worth of automotive part making over to China!!! (Humm, I wonder how many jobs that will cost the USA, Canada and Mexico?)

I have been "pricing" my suppliers, and they even say pvc is going up too. Something to do with the materials used to make it.

I have found that some things you can still get "reasonable" from the major suppliers, but the local suppliers are raising prices daily. Guess it's going to be tough bidding.

That's nice to hear. I just threw away about 400 feet of EMT at the dump tonight.

I keep reading the chinese are buying all the copper and steel they can. What are they doing with it? Making buildings? Or making bullets, tanks, and ships?

Tom

I seem to recall that Japan was doing this in 1939, 40, 41.

Rowdy

Rowdy, you have a point: The organisation that was to become the European Union was founded in the 50's to control the European steel and coal resources. This to prevent any one country from building a powerful military.

The construction boom in China has been going on for many years and more building materials is needed each year as the economy grows. Even India is building like never before and must use up a lot of building materials. I suppose it's possibly that the crisis in Asia in the late 90's hid the effects of this boom by reducing construction in all the other countries. Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that the effect should come suddenly this year.

Just got back from a price check @ BigOrange

(Hang onto your shorts)

1/2" EMT - $1.97
3/4" EMT - $4.97
2" EMT - $15.49
2" RMC - $35.95

12 AWG cu sol - $25.00 / 500'
14 AWG cu sol - $18.49 / 500'

EEEEEEK!

I hope I'm not "flogging a dead horse" here but while surfing the net (I usually read on automation stuff, as that is what we mostly work on), I found this article. Interesting read!
http://www.machinedesign.com/ASP/strArticleID/56324/strSite/MDSite/viewSelectedArticle.asp

Observation: When Mexico started to be the place of Manufacturers to move (lower labour costs), everybody got concerned but atleast they purchased; Support, materials and equipment from Canada and the United States. This in eccence kept some sort of money flowing on the North American Continent ( Canada,USA,Mexico).

China, different story: To far away!

I guess everybody forgets, "What Goes ($) Around, ($)Comes Around"

Humm, Ok now that is off my chest and I'm shopping for a new vehicle, maybe that article will help influence my decision!!!!

Its not just electrical guys, all construction materials are sky rocketing. I am building a new house right now. The framing package was $17K ten months ago. I was going to start building then but had to have spine surgery so I held off till this spring. Now the framing package is $26K...ouch.

I got wind of the copper increase before the end of last year and bought 180,000 ft of 12/2 @ $92 per thousand. It has helped because now it's at $138 per thousand here.

Did a restaurant service this week and paid $1.42 a foot for 3/0 THHN. Put a bid into the GC to go to the xfmr bank (up the pole) to the CT can and he flipped. Kinda expensive to parallel 4/0 copper for 225 ft!

[This message has been edited by arseegee (edited 03-24-2004).]

arsegee,

You spent $67,000 on wire?! Where do you keep all those pallets??

D*mn scared myself there for a minute CT, I meant 720 rolls which is 180,000ft. Almost had to go check my bank balance there. LOL. I'd better edit that ... Thanks

[This message has been edited by arseegee (edited 03-24-2004).]

My supplier told me about the wire and pipe increase, so I went to the Depot and bought over 15,000 ft of #12 Stranded at about $17 a spool(500') and about 5,000' of 1/2" emt at $1.09 a stick. I'm good for a month or two. but after that, prices better go down.