SMU Data and Models
Steel Buyers Tell SMU: Steel Mills Anxious to Negotiate Pricing
Written by John Packard
October 22, 2015
SMU spoke with a service center executive earlier today. During our conversion this Midwest based service center expressed his opinion regarding the ability to negotiate domestic steel prices in the current market environment when he told us, “I am beginning to think that with a firm bid you could get a better deal domestically than what you would get if you went foreign.”
In our HARDI galvanized steel conference call held earlier this week we heard from a number of wholesalers who reported the mills as, “…more willing to negotiate and we are seeing prices that we have not seen since 2008.”
Those responding to our mid-October flat rolled steel market analysis this week did not express opinions regarding domestic versus foreign pricing. What they did agree on is the domestic steel mills are aggressively negotiating price on all flat rolled products.
Those respondents reporting the mills as negotiating hot rolled prices rose from 92 percent to 97 percent (meaning 97 percent of the respondents reported mills as negotiating pricing).
Cold rolled also remained above 90 percent with 92 percent reporting the mills as willing to negotiate CR spot pricing.
Galvanized rose from 90 percent to 95 percent.
Galvalume rose from 86 percent to 89 percent.
Here is how negotiations have trended since the beginning of June 2015.
A side note: The data for both lead times and negotiations comes from only service center and manufacturer respondents. We do not include commentary from the steel mills, trading companies or toll processors in this particular group of questions.
To see an interactive history of our Steel Mill Negotiations data, visit our website here.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in SMU Data and Models
SMU market survey results now available
SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]
SMU Survey: Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices rebound
Following months of fluctuations, SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices rebounded this week, now at multi-month highs. Both of our Indices remain in positive territory and indicate that steel buyers are optimistic about the success of their businesses.
SMU Survey: Mill lead times remain stable and short
Steel buyers participating in our market survey this week reported stable mill lead times for both sheet and plate steel products.
SMU Survey: Most buyers report mills still willing to talk price
Most steel buyers SMU polled this week reported that mills remain willing to negotiate new order pricing.
October service center shipments and inventories report
Flat rolled = 63.4 shipping days of supply Plate = 52.4 shipping days of supply Flat rolled shipments and inventories Flat-rolled steel supply at US service centers remains seasonally high. October inventories increased after edging lower in September – a dynamic driven largely by disappointing demand. October’s report reflects lower demand and stable lead times […]