SMU Data and Models
July 24, 2016
As Lead Times Slip Mills Beginning to Negotiate Steel Prices
Written by John Packard
As lead times begin to come back in (shorten), we are seeing an increase in the percentage of our flat rolled steel survey respondents who are reporting the steel mills as willing to negotiate steel prices.
Hot rolled continues to be the weakest product. It has the shortest lead time and we have heard from outside of our steel market survey that lead times on hot rolled can be as short as 2 weeks. The percentage of respondents reporting HRC prices as “negotiable” increased again this past week and now stands at 69 percent.
