SMU Data and Models
April 17, 2014
Steel Mill Flat Rolled Lead Times Shoot Out
Written by John Packard
According to Steel Market Update most recent flat rolled steel market survey results, lead times at the U.S. and Canadian steel mills continue to extend on hot rolled, cold rolld and coated products with the exception of Galvalume. Hot rolled lead times are now averaging 5.49 weeks, up from 4.87 weeks just two weeks ago and almost double what we saw this time last year when HRC lead times averaged 2.83 weeks.
Cold rolled lead times have moved from 6.08 weeks at the beginning of March to 7.84 weeks as of this week. Last year cold rolled was averaging 4.70 weeks in the middle of April.
