If the price composite chart shown in Fig 1 represented the results from the New York Stock Exchange, the whole world would be rejoicing But since it actually represents the composite price of shredded steel scrap for the last 2.5 years, only worldwide scrap suppliers have any right to be happy. Steel consumers such as the U.S.' more than 800 iron and steel metalcasters are trying to find ways to overcome this raw material pricing that has doubled in the last year and tripled in the last two. A look at the chart in Fig. 1 and the data in Table 1 illustrate the growth of ferrous scrap and raw material pricing since January 2000. The result for many iron and steel metalcasters has been close to a doubling of the cost of the raw materials that make up (in some cases) close to 60-65 percent of the charge for their melts.
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