Buyers shouldn't expect a reprieve from erratic and inflated pricing of key raw materials.Sixty-one percent of the buyers polled by PURCHASING paid more in October than they had in September,with at least two-thirds paying more for metals (66%) and chemicals and plastics (69%).This is surprising as steel prices rose by 56% in the first three quarters of this year before sliding in the final stanza.Nonferrous metals prices surged by 66%.Chemicals rose by 24% and resins increased by 19%.While metals prices are poised to fall into a fourth-quarter funk,analysts expect prices for all these materials-as well as wood and paper products-to remain at lofty heights into next year because of the strongest levels of demand in four to five years.
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