Steel Products
Mill Lead Times Extend Slightly – Mill Negotiations Continue
Written by John Packard
February 8, 2013
Based on the results of this week’s SMU steel market survey, lead times have moved out slightly at the domestic steel mills compared to where they were during the middle of January. We are now seeing hot rolled lead times averaging 3.5 weeks, cold rolled and galvanized at just over 5 weeks and Galvalume at almost 6.5 weeks. With the exception of Galvalume – HR, CR and GI are still well behind where their lead times were at this time last year (see table below and graph at the end of this article).
Even with the domestic mills having hiked prices by $40 to $50 per ton over the past few weeks their sales people continue to negotiate pricing with their customers – according to the results from our survey which concluded this afternoon. The only item where we found any significant drop was hot rolled – from 88 percent to 74 percent – in other words during the middle of January 88 percent of those responding to our survey reported the domestic mills are willing to negotiate hot rolled pricing. This week that number has dropped to 74 percent. As you can see by the graphic below – all of the other flat rolled items continue to have a significant amount of “discussion” associated with the placement of any new orders.
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.