Mill Lead Times Decline from Beginning of the Month

Cold rolled lead times averaged 6.38 weeks down from 7.00 weeks reported at the beginning of August.

Galvanized also saw lead times drop from 7.03 weeks at the beginning of August down to 6.58 weeks this week.

Galvalume lead times declined the most of all the flat rolled products dropping by more than 1 week. At the beginning of August we recorded the average AZ lead time as being 7.90 weeks. As of this week AZ lead time averages dropped to 6.75 weeks.

Lead times are important as they indicate how strong (or weak) the mill order books are at this time and if changes in lead times are being reflected in changes in negotiations between the steel mills and their OEM or service center customers.

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{amchart id=”112″ SMU Lead Times by Product- Survey}