Around the globe, spiking steel prices and tight supply are having an impact on both small and large manufacturers and distributors. The tough market is forcing executives to make tough decisions without driving off customers.
 
Steel continues to be in short supply in the U.S. for the third month in a row, according to the June Manufacturing Report on Business released by the Institute for Supply Management. What’s more, steel prices have gone up each of the last eight months, and have doubled in the last six.
 
And though rumors abound in the industry that prices will stabilize, there is little agreement on when that stabilization will take place or what it will entail.
 
The problem in the U.S. is that steel producers are facing competing …