The spike in steel prices was driven by a construction push in China. Metal prices across the board doubled (in some cases tripled). Lumber prices rose at the same time, but not as sharply. The global economic crash put a stop to that for a short time, but now that things are beginning to stabilize, China may start to build again, pushing prices up again. This is assuming that China can avoid another economic crash due to their manipulating of the Yen. The tool and fastener companies took a hit to their profit margin during that time by attempting to hold prices back. If they had been lining their pockets, you would have seen prices rise even higher than they did.
I was working at a building supply at the time, we came very close to rationing on nails and screws, because our supplier had trouble sourcing steel at prices that wouldn't put them out of business. IIRC, they had to import recycled steel from Europe in order to meet demand. Even then, supply was short for a time.
