I was in a meeting yesterday with some contractors (general and subs), and a secondary debate popped up between them about prices. The electrical sub remarked that three major Chilean copper mines have been on strike since the first of the year, driving copper prices up significantly worldwide (on the order of 75%+ increases, apparently). Steel's been a moving target in the US for several years now - the story I was told about three years ago was that some Chinese investors came to the US and bought a couple of the major steel mills, broke them down, and shipped them to China because it was faster than building mills from scratch. (I've never seen proof of that tale, but it was told right around the time that sheet metal prices went completely mad and they don't seem to have really stabilized since then.) It's not been unusual in the last few years for contractors to offer quotes with a disclaimer that prices were only good for a week (rather than the previous standard of 30 to 60 days). It's a major issue affecting all industries. Sad, but definitely true.