SMU Data and Models

Mill Price Negotiations: Still Flexible?
Written by John Packard
June 7, 2015
Our respondents to last week’s flat rolled steel market survey continue to report prices as being negotiable, maybe not to the degree we have been seeing since the beginning of the year, but negotiable non-the-less. However, we need to remember that the vast majority of our responses were made prior to the anti-dumping trade suit being filed. So, we need to take the results with that in mind.
As you can see by the graphic below, 66 percent of the respondents reported hot rolled pricing as negotiable, 75 percent reported cold rolled pricing as negotiable, 73 percent galvanized and 60 percent Galvalume.
We will be interested to see what happens in our next survey now that the corrosion resistant anti-dumping suit has been filed.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in SMU Data and Models

SMU’s April at a glance
SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of our key steel market metrics for the previous month, with the latest data updated through April 30.

SMU Survey: Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices see modest recovery
SMU’s Buyers’ Sentiment Indices both improved this week, reversing the decline seen two weeks ago.

SMU Survey: Sheet and plate lead times flatten out
Sheet and plate lead times held steady this week, according to buyers responding to the latest SMU market survey. This week we saw little change from mid-April levels, with just one product (Galvalume) showing any significant movement.

SMU Survey: More mills willing to deal on sheet prices, less so on plate
Nearly two thirds of the steel buyers who responded to this week’s SMU survey say domestic mills are negotiable on spot prices. This increasing flexibility marks a significant shift from the firmer stance mills held in recent months.

SMU Survey: Sheet lead times ease further, plate hits one-year high
Steel buyers responding to this week’s SMU market survey report a continued softening in sheet lead times. Meanwhile, plate lead times have moderately extended and are at a one-year high.