Material Shortage and Price Index Update

Back in September, we shared information about the material shortages affecting many of us worldwide. Several issues continue to face our industry, including inflation, freight costs, and the stabilization of metals recently. No matter the cause, from geopolitical issues to weather events, we monitor trends and have mitigation plans to position ourselves — and our customers — accordingly. If we can be further assistance with any specific shortage issues your company may be facing, please contact us. Below we have an update on domestic mills, nickel, and freight rates. Also included here are references for more information about this topic.

• FRED Economic Data | Producer Price Index by Industry: Plastics and Resins in Manufacturing
• FRED Economic Data | Producer Price Index by Industry: Deep Sea Freight Transportation
• FRED Economic Data | Producer Price Index by Industry: General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance Truckload
• Investing News | Nickel Trends 2021: Nickel Prices Soar, Demand Shows Signs of Recovery
• Wall Street Journal | Shipping and Logistics Costs are Expected to Keep Rising in 2022
• Trading Economics | Steel
• Trading Economics | Copper

Please take a few minutes to read the information below which helps put the new year into context. A Letter from a Supplier: Good morning and Happy 2022! Below are some current market updates from our President. We will be distributing our Full 2022 Market outlook report by the end of this month, but in the meantime, here is some information to kick off this new year. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.

• Domestic mills raised the based another .05/lb. at the end of December.
• Nickel has been going up again.  Below is a chart and as of today it is at $9.60/lb.  That is a 7 year high.  Below is a link for more nickel information.
• At these nickel ranges on 300 series, we will see an increase of .03/lb. to .05/lb. in surcharges alone.
• Between base on S/C increases we are looking at .10/lb. going into 1Q.
• Freight rates on containers seems to have stabilized.  They have not gone down but appear to have peaked…..we hope.
• Order books at the mills are still full and we remain on allotment.
• The TSM order book is still high…..we have 5X the normal workload at our mill.
• Bookings for our mill have remained strong through December.
• Our best estimate is that we will not see the order book relief at the domestic rod mills or our own mill until late 2Q or 3Q.

Best Regards, Kelly Krebs, Tri Star Metals, LLC