Steel Mill Negotiations: Mills Holding the Line

With foreign steel offers largely on hold as the market awaits President Trump’s final decision on steel tariffs, domestic steel mills are in a strong bargaining position and are taking full advantage of it. Nine out of 10 steel buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week say the mills are unwilling to negotiate on hot rolled and cold rolled orders, and nearly as many are holding the line on galvanized and Galvalume.

By market segment, 92 percent of SMU respondents said the mills are holding firm on hot rolled steel orders, while only 8 percent have found mills willing to negotiate. That compares to 83 percent holding the line and 17 percent open to price negotiations on hot roll two weeks ago.