March 9, 2022 “The Monty Heat Treat News” had an item about the astounding jump for spot nickel pricing which we predicted would result in substantial price increases for all alloy items required by the heat treat industry-base trays, fixtures, belts fans and radiant tubes to name a few https://themonty.com/nickel-price-skyrockets-alloy-components-set-for-major-price-increases/ Sure enough literally within 2 days of the increase in spot nickel pricing furnace builders and heat treaters were telling us about substantial price increases from their alloy suppliers-typically in the range of 30%. Obviously if you need alloy you need alloy and there are extremely limited options as far as alternatives go so the question becomes; buy now or wait and see what happens in the future?

The graph below shows extreme volatility for spot nickel pricing in just the past few days. It appears to be a given that for a number of reasons nickel demand will be increasing for the next number of years which will put upward pressure on pricing but how much pressure is the question-your guess is as good as ours.

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