Steel Mills Taking Much Firmer Stand on Steel Price Negotiations

The percentage of buyers reporting the mills as willing to negotiate cold rolled prices dropped from 92 percent in mid-October to 22 percent this week.

Only 18 percent of our respondents reported the mills as willing to negotiate galvanized pricing. In mid-October that number was 86 percent.

Galvalume was even more impressive as zero percent of our respondents reported the mills as willing to negotiate AZ pricing. In mid-October that number was 86 percent.

The less willing the mills are to negotiate pricing the firmer prices become.

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.