Steel Mill Lead Times: Hot Rolled Down to Five Weeks

Lead times for steel sheet and plate continued to decline over the past two weeks, shortening by an average of more than a week. The move correlates with a sharp downtrend in steel prices.

Steel Market Update’s latest check of the market shows the average lead time for hot rolled orders nearing five weeks. Cold rolled and coated lead times are approaching eight weeks. That’s still 1-2 weeks longer than historical averages but far below the peaks of 11-13 weeks seen earlier this year. Current lead times are also the shortest they have been since September/October 2020, according to SMU data.