SMU Data and Models
Steel Mill Negotiations: All the Chips are on the Mill Side
Written by John Packard
April 7, 2016
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel reported to Steel Market Update this past week that the domestic steel mills are less willing to negotiate steel prices. We believe this is due to strengthening order books, extending lead times, positive Sentiment and improving demand.
In fact, we were learning throughout the day today that many mills are either not in the spot market at all, or their order books are currently closed pending settlement of scrap pricing and having a couple of the larger mills (such as SDI) open their books.
We have had two price increase announcements so far this week: NLMK USA at +$40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) and SSAB at +$60 per ton ($3.00/cwt).
You can clearly see the trend for negotiations between the domestic steel mills and their customers based on the results of this weeks flat rolled steel market trends analysis.
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 Survey: Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices contrast at year end
Both of our Sentiment Indices remain in positive territory and indicate that steel buyers are optimistic about the success of their businesses.
SMU Survey: Mill lead times contract slightly, remain short
Steel mill production times have seen very little change since September, according to buyers participating in our latest market survey.
SMU Survey: Buyers report mills are slightly less flexible on pricing
Steel buyers of sheet and plate products say mills are still willing to bend on spot pricing this week, though not quite as much as they were two weeks prior, according to our most recent survey data.
December energy market update
Trends in energy prices and active rig counts are leading demand indicators for oil country tubular goods (OCTG), line pipe and other steel products
Apparent steel supply remained near two-year low in October
Referred to as ‘apparent steel supply’, we calculate this volume by combining domestic steel mill shipments with finished US steel imports and deducting total US steel exports.