Steel Mill Lead Times: Is Demand Easing?

Lead times on most flat rolled steel products continue to shorten, according to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends data. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the longer the lead time the busier the mill. Shortening lead times suggest steel demand is easing. Lead times for hot rolled now average around just four weeks, cold rolled a bit more than six weeks, galvanized less than seven weeks, and Galvalume slightly more than seven weeks.

“We are back to normal. Lead times are no longer extended. But there are some outages to dance around,” said one buyer. “The mini’s are normal, whereas integrateds are still somewhat extended,” said another respondent. “The integrateds are longer than normal only because they have been forcing us to book further out,” added a third.