Steel Mill Lead Times: Falling Along With Prices

Mill lead times for orders of flat rolled and plate products have shortened significantly over the past month. Steel Market Update’s latest check of the market shows the average lead times for hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel have come in by roughly three-fourths of a week. The typical hot rolled lead time is down to nearly eight weeks, while cold rolled and galvanized are now closer to 10 than 11 weeks. Plate lead times have shrunk to less than eight weeks.

Buyers polled by SMU this week reported mill lead times ranging from 5-11 weeks for hot rolled, 8-12 weeks for cold rolled, 6-14 weeks for galvanized, 9-13 weeks for Galvalume, and 6-10 weeks for plate.