Steel boss James Brand raises his voice above the roar of metal being funneled into a foundry furnace as he details how rampant costs have pushed him to raise his prices by 70%. Yet he says that, despite this hefty hike, his customers in sectors including oil and gas, autos and construction are placing new orders at a record-breaking gallop. His order book has ballooned from the usual 4-6 weeks to 6 months. Those clients anticipate further price rises at a time when the cost of pig iron and scrap metal is going through the roof, fuelled by the Ukraine war, and the vast amount of energy needed to melt the two inputs into cast iron has never been more expensive. “With raw materials and costs escalating, customers are thinking, ‘If I don’t buy now, in two months it will be even more […]