Stainless Surcharges Jump in January, Construction Index Rises

by Jeff Yoders on JANUARY 10, 2017

Rising raw material surcharges are driving up U.S. steel prices, particularly stainless surcharges. The Allegheny Ludlum304 and 316 stainless surcharges rose 34% and 25%, respectively, on the MetalMiner IndX from December to January.

The chrome portion of our prices jumped month on month and Platts reported that the same thing happened to its stainless benchmarks.

Turner Construction Index Posts Strong 4Q

Turner Construction Company reported recently that its Fourth Quarter 2016 Turner Building Cost Index — which measures costs in the nonresidential building construction market in the U.S. — has increased to a value of 1006. This represents a 1.11% quarterly increase from the Third Quarter 2016 and a 4.90% yearly increase from the Fourth Quarter 2015.

The U.S. construction market continues to experience broad growth, with the West and Southeast regions seeing more significant gains, and the Northeast and Central regions seeing more moderate gains. While raw material prices have remained flat, they have experienced an overall gain this year and fabricated material prices have seen a continuous growth this quarter.