Steel Mill Lead Times/Negotiations: Lateness Worsens Long Lead Times

It’s hard to believe that lead times could get much longer, but that appears to be the case. Steel Market Update’s latest survey data shows that flat rolled delivery times have stretched by an additional one to two weeks over the past month.

Lead times are an indicator of steel demand—the longer the average lead time, the busier the mills. Busy mills have little incentive to negotiate on prices. Buyers report that mills are frequently late on promised delivery dates, due in part to the tight shipping capacity in trucking and rail, so that lateness may be reflected in the following lead times data.