SMU Data and Models
Mills Show Flexibility on Spot Price Negotiations
Written by Tim Triplett
June 8, 2017
Lead times are declining, which reflects a possible softening of demand, thus domestic mills appear to be more willing to negotiate spot pricing on hot rolled, cold rolled, hot-dipped galvanized and Galvalume steels than they were earlier in the year. About 70-80 percent of steel buyers responding to this week’s flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire report that mills have shown greater flexibility on pricing since around May 1.
SMU Note: The majority of our responses were provided prior to all of the domestic mills making their price announcements. We will watch lead times and price negotiations carefully in the coming days and weeks.
Steel Market Update sends a questionnaire to active flat rolled and plate steel buyers twice each month. Their responses provide an interesting look at changing spot pricing trends. We provide our members with various ways to analyze current and historical data using the graph below.
The graphic below is not associated with the steel mill lead times published by Nucor, ArcelorMittal, etc. The data comes from our market trends analysis and is an average by product. Each mill has their own lead times and we will do a separate analysis on those reports in Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update.
SMU 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.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in SMU Data and Models
SMU Survey: Steel buyers maintain confident market outlook
SMU’s Buyers’ Sentiment Indices showed mixed movements this week but remain strong, reflecting continued confidence among steel buyers.
SMU Survey: Perspectives differ on impact of Trump tariffs
Are President Trump's tariff policies helping? Steel buyers offer their opinions on the impact of Trump's tariffs.
SMU Survey: Lead times stabilize as tariff-induced buying slows
After a multi-week increase, buyers responding to our market survey this week reported that lead times are stabilizing or marginally declining for each of the sheet and plate products we track.
SMU Survey: Mills hold firm on price, little negotiation room for buyers
The majority of the steel buyers responding to our latest market survey continue to report that domestic mills remain firm on pricing, showing little willingness to talk price on new spot orders this week.
HRC vs. scrap spread widens over $150/ton in March
The HRC vs. prime scrap spread increased again in March.