Steel Mill Lead Times: Support for Price Hikes?

The latest lead time data based on the Steel Market Update flat rolled steel survey—largely unchanged from two weeks ago–offers no clear indication of whether this week’s price announcements by three of the flat rolled steel mills will be accepted by the marketplace.

SMU began collecting responses from steel buyers on Monday of this week, prior to the mill price hike announcements which began on Wednesday for flat rolled. At least 90 percent of the total responses were received prior to the announcements. One of the key indicators tracked by SMU is the lead times for hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. The farther and faster lead times move out, the more support the mill price hikes are likely to see. Lead times on each product are somewhat higher than reported in mid-October, but have seen little change in the past two weeks. Calculated on a three-month moving average basis, lead times on all four products are considerably shorter than they were at mid-year.