Contractors hoped a return to a pre-pandemic materials supply free of logistics bottlenecks would come in early 2022, but then Russia invaded Ukraine.
Oil prices are still more than $100 per barrel for both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate as of March 22. Nickel, the key ingredient in stainless steel, saw its futures price jump 250% March 8 to over $100,000 per metric ton, only to see trading halted on the London Metal Exchange. A series of false restarts then shook confidence in the exchange as the metal sank to $36,915 per metric ton on March 18, hitting its low limit. Steel prices have jumped since the late-February invasion as well.