Steel Mill Negotiations: Mills in Comfy Position

The mills are still comfortably in the driver’s seat when it comes to steel price negotiations. More than 90 percent of the buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week reported that the flat roll and plate mills are unwilling to talk price on steel orders.

The only notable changes in the data this week were the percentages reporting on the amount of wiggle room in negotiations for galvanized and plate. In the case of galvanized, talks have loosened slightly as 9% of buyers said the mills were open to discounts, up six points from 3% early in March. In the case of plate, talks have tightened slightly as 9% of buyers said mills were now willing to negotiate, down eight points from 17% two weeks ago.