Mill Lead Times/Negotiations: HR Extends to Almost 10 Weeks

Steel Market Update’s latest lead times data shows a significant increase in delivery times for spot orders of flat rolled and plate from the mills. The average lead time for hot rolled is now nearly 10 weeks and coated products around 12 weeks—an increase of a week or more from the last survey in mid-April. Lead times have never been more extended in the decade that SMU has been gathering this data.

It’s unclear why such a big change has shown up in the data over the past two weeks. Buyers have been complaining that the mills are running late, often missing promised delivery dates by days or weeks. Perhaps more respondents included the lateness of deliveries in their lead time estimates. SMU also made a slight change to our survey methodology recently, introducing a “slider” bar that makes it easier for people to respond more precisely. That may have had a slight effect on the comparability of this week’s data to past history.