Steel Products
Mill Lead Times Shrink & Negotiations Expand This Past Week
Written by John Packard
January 21, 2013
Based on the weighted results from our most recent steel survey which was conducted this past week, SMU found lead times slipping slightly on all flat rolled products followed by our company. Benchmark hot rolled average lead times declined to 3.38 weeks and are much shorter than the 4.76 weeks measured by the SMU survey during the middle of January one year ago. We found similar situations with cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume – all of which have shorter lead times than the prior week as well as one year ago.
The net result of the shorter lead times is shown in our negotiation comparison graph – again, based on the results of this past week’s survey our respondents advised SMU that the domestic mills were more willing to negotiate hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume pricing this past week than they were during the first week of January.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products

SMU Community Chat replay now available
The latest SMU Community Chat webinar reply is now available on our website to all members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the community tab and look under the “previous webinars” section of the dropdown menu. All past Community Chat webinars are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the webinar replay, or if your company […]

SSAB announces $74M expansion in Alabama
The project will expand heat treat capacity at its Axis, Alabama plant

Service centers: Mill orders retreat in March
SMU’s Mill Order Index declined in March after repeated gains at the start of the year, according to our latest service center inventories data.

Nucor maintains plate prices
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat with the opening of its June order book.

US rig count up, Canada declines
Oil and gas drilling activity was mixed this week, according to Baker Hughes. US rig counts expanded for a second straight week, while Canadian activity continued its seasonal slowdown of eight consecutive weeks.