Steel Mill Lead Times: Plate, Galvalume Shorten a Bit

Lead times for Galvalume and plate products shortened up a bit in the past two weeks, but otherwise lead times for flat rolled products have seen little change in October or November, despite the price hike announcements by the major mills.

Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the longer the lead time, the busier the mill. The busier the mill, the less likely they are to negotiate on price. Responses to SMU’s latest flat rolled and plate market trends questionnaire show that lead times for hot rolled now average about four weeks, cold rolled about six weeks, galvanized and Galvalume about six and a half weeks and plate about seven weeks.