SMU Data and Models

Domestic Mill Steel Price Negotiations: Everybody’s Still Talking…
Written by John Packard
November 19, 2015
Based on the results of this week’s flat rolled steel market analysis (survey) conducted by Steel Market Update (SMU) the flat rolled steel mills continue to aggressively pursue orders by negotiating spot prices on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and to a slightly lesser extent, Galvalume.
As you can see by the graphic shown below, 91 percent of those responding to our questionnaire reported the domestic mills as willing to discuss hot rolled prices. This is essentially in line and unchanged from what we gathered at the beginning of this month and just slightly lower than the 97 percent reported one month ago.
Cold rolled products saw a slight decrease in those reporting the domestic mills as willing to negotiate CR prices. Eighty-nine percent of our respondents reported the mills as willing to negotiate CR pricing. This is down 11 percent compared to two weeks ago but is in line with the data collected during the middle of October.
Our respondents reported that the mills as willing to negotiate with 90 percent of our respondents reporting that way. This is essentially in line with what we have been collecting over the past couple of months.
Seventy-one percent of our respondents reported the domestic mills as willing to negotiate Galvalume prices. This is unchanged from two weeks ago but is well below the high 80’s that we were collecting during September through the middle of October.
A side 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.

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.