CNN is reporting steel stocks may be bubbling-up in price.
After the pandemic forced steel manufacturers to shut down production, steel supplies contracted. But as the recovery began in 2020, mills were slow to resume production. It created a massive steel shortage.
Now, CNN reports the reopening of the economy is driving a steel boom so strong that some are convinced it will end in tears.
"This is going to be short-lived. It's very appropriate to call this a bubble," Bank of America analyst Timna Tanners told CNN Business.
After reaching as low as $460 last year, US hot-rolled coil steel prices are now sitting at around $1,500 a ton. That's a record high —nearly triple the 20-year average.
And steel producers have likewise jumped in price. US Steel, which crashed to a record low last March amid bankruptcy fears, has skyrocketed 200% in just 12 months. Nucor has spiked 76% this year alone.
"We expect this will correct — and often when it corrects, it over-corrects," Tanners told CNN. She's a two-decade veteran of the metals industry.
To learn more, read CNN's original report here.