Steel industry experts express concerns over ‘volatile and inflated’ steel prices

Steel industry experts say steel has become over-inflated and volatile as a raw material.

In a recent webinar facilatated by 20 Vison three industry businessmen voiced their discontent over steel prices.

Steel has seen a 145 percent increase in prices in a period of five years. In the past four months, they have surged by 42 percent. CEO of Fabricon Selwin Swart said this had made the product risky to work with compared to 20 years ago when costs were stable.

“It’s a very different landscape from when we had competitive steel prices, competitive companies that operated. Steel was not anywhere near your biggest risk item in a project. It was readily available.

“What we have seen in the past five years and more so in the past 12 months is that steel has become the biggest risk item. Prices are only valid for five days. When you used to manage the risk in a tender, steel was never on the cards; now steel is the top risk we have been experiencing,” said Swart.