Apex Steel, for instance, considered a job to provide stairs, railings and other steel components at an N.C. State University parking deck.

The steel would have cost about $1 million today -- about one-third more than two years ago, said Ronald Clemmons, president of the Garner steel fabricator. The company decided not to bid.

"They want hard pricing, but they're not going to be ready for ... another year," he said. "There's no way I'm going to speculate on what steel's going to be worth a year from now."

Because prices are rising so fast, he can't commit. "Our price is good today," Clemmons said.

And as prices climbed in recent months, contracts signed late last year are starting to bite into his profit.

"We got caught by surprise," Clemmons said. "Every job that I've got going now that I bid before February of this year -- about 35 or 45 percent of my jobs -- I'm losing money on."