Can someone summarize the recent price increases in various products --some of it due to the War, some due to Hurricane (rebuilding) in Florida? For instance: in flakeboard prices, in steel prices, in concrete, etc? I also understand that China is going to be a big factor in a run-up in cement prices.
They are way past the "going to be" phase.
Some costs in this article (free registration required). Also discusses reasons for the cost increase, including China but not the Florida rebuilding:
Materials Driving Up Cost of Construction
By Dana Hedgpeth Monday, June 14, 2004
...
Wire mesh, used to reinforce walls and for security, was $30 for a
4-foot-by-8-foot sheet. Now it is $46. Metal studs, used to frame a wall, were a little over a dollar a foot and now cost $2.50. Drywall was $12 a sheet and now is $15.The cost for redoing the interior of the Prince George's building was supposed to be $12 million, but it has gone up by $400,000, said Matt Merz, a senior project manager at the Arlington-based Rand.
...
The cost of 100 pounds of steel is $31.27, up 21 percent from a year ago, according to Engineering News-Record, which tracks pricing in 20 major cities.
A thousand feet of lumber sells for more than $530, up 20 percent from last year, according to Engineering News-Record.
Plywood prices also are up. Last summer a sheet cost $6; now it is $16, said Michael Carliner, an economist with the National Association of Home Builders, a D.C.-based trade group.
Rising gasoline prices have hit contractors who use fuel-guzzling heavy equipment. Alberto Gomez, owner of Prince Construction Co. in the District, said he had to spend an additional $2,000 to run his fleet of six trucks and other equipment to repave parking lots at Howard University.
...
You can also blame the Nimby's and Liberals.
In this country you can't harvest a tree, you can't build a new refinery or manufacturing plant. The tax structure is punitive. Local governments harp about family wage jobs but create miles of red tape and regulations that drive off new factories.
When supplies are constrained, prices tend to go up.
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