The economic outlook is becoming stormy, and it looks like we are going to see more difficult times in the coming months. There are growing pressures on the welding industry that will make business interesting, if not downright difficult. To start, prices can be counted on rising continuously, and that includes prices for metals and prices for gases. The increase in metals prices will affect base and filler metals, and for welding wire and other consumables. The prices for wire and consumables already are on the rise, primarily because the price for copper nearly doubled late in 2007 in less than a month. There are predictions that prices for copper will decline over the next two years, but for the time being, copper pricing can be expected to keep prices pushing upward for the brass used in consumables.
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