SMU Data and Models
Steel Mills to Customers: Forget Negotiating Steel Prices
Written by John Packard
May 19, 2016
As the thunderstorms erupt around our offices one of our indices is quite calm. The calming blue color of our bar graph depicts what buyers and sellers are telling us is happening during the negotiation process between mills and their customers: take it or leave it. Respondents to our mid-May flat rolled steel market trends analysis reported almost unanimously that there is virtually no negotiating flat rolled steel prices with the domestic steel mills at this time.
Both Galvalume and Cold Rolled were reported to have zero negotiating room while hot rolled (12 percent) and galvanized (10 percent) barely registered on our graphic. We will let the graphic tell the story.
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
May service center shipments and inventories report
Flat rolled = 57.1 shipping days of supply Plate = 55.7 shipping days of supply Flat rolled US service centers reined in flat roll supply in May, coinciding with declining shipments. At the end of May, service centers carried 57.1 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data. That’s down slightly from 57.6 shipping […]
Survey says: Market hit with another blast of tariff whiplash
If you’re feeling a sudden jerk and a case of tariff whiplash coming on, you’re not alone.
SMU flat-rolled market survey results now available
SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]
SMU Survey: Steel Buyers’ Sentiment sinks to near pandemic levels
SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices moved in opposing directions this week. Our Current Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Index sharply fell to one of the lowest levels recorded in five years, while Future Buyers’ Sentiment marginally improved.
SMU Survey: Mill lead times tick higher after late-May lows
All five of the averages for sheet and plate mill lead times tracked by SMU extended moderately this week, according to buyers responding to our latest market survey.