Lead Times Stretch – Some Products More than Others

After price increase announcements, it is important to follow steel mill lead times (and other keys) as a way of seeing if the increases are being seriously considered by steel buyers. The farther and faster lead times move out, the more support for the price increases announced by the domestic steel mills.

Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted an analysis of the flat rolled steel markets and market trends over the course of the past four days. One of the key indicators produced out of our analysis is the change in lead time trends in hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. Respondents to this week’s questionnaire noted that lead times on each product were higher than what was reported during the middle of October.