Steel Mill Negotiations: In Buyers' Favor

Approximately 84% of steel buyers report that mills are willing to talk price to secure an order, according to executives polled in our latest steel market survey. The rate of willingness to negotiate has remained over 50% in each of our market checks since early May and is now at the highest level since early March 2022.

Every other week, SMU asks survey respondents: Are you finding domestic mills are willing to negotiate spot pricing on new orders? On average this week, 84% of steel buyers report that mills were willing to negotiate lower prices on new orders, up from 74% when we polled the market two weeks prior and up from 81% one month ago. Recall we saw negotiation rates between 16-35% in March and April.