Further increases in transaction prices for the start of the fourth quarter of this year, particularly in flat rolled products, show that the upward trend in European steel values has not yet run out of steam. This appears to have come as a surprise to steel producers. Before the summer holidays they were expressing caution about future price increases. They were saying there might be only "limited room" for further adjustments -a coded warning that the crest of the current boom might be arriving. The peak now seems to have been extended into next year. This is good news for the mills as they embark on price negotiations with annual contract customers. Trying to persuade them to pay around 20 percent more for their steel in 2005 would have been a difficult task in a falling market.
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