Steel Mill Lead Times: Not Much Change

Mill lead times on most flat rolled steel products saw little change in the past two weeks, according to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends data. Lead times for hot rolled now average nearly five and a half weeks, cold rolled a bit less than seven and a half weeks, and galvanized a bit more than seven and a half weeks. Lead times for Galvalume made the biggest move from mid-June to more than eight weeks. These lead times are more extended now than what Steel Market Update measured at this time one year ago (see graphic below).

Lead times on hot rolled steel peaked in early April at 5.73 weeks and generally have trended downward since then. Hot rolled lead times now average 5.39 weeks based on the responses from this week’s market trends questionnaire, up slightly from 5.24 weeks in mid-June. They are still extended compared with a year ago, however, when HRC lead times averaged 4.41 weeks.