Market Data
July 21, 2022
Mill Willingness to Negotiate Remains High
Written by Brett Linton
Once again, nearly nine out of ten steel executives reported that mills are willing to talk price to secure an order, according to buyers polled in this week’s steel market survey. Now standing at a five-month high, this high negotiation rate is similar to what we saw in early July. A high willingness to negotiate has been evident in our market checks since early May.
Every other week, SMU asks survey respondents: Are you finding domestic mills are willing to negotiate spot pricing on new orders? On average this week, 89% of steel buyers report that mills were willing to negotiate lower prices on new orders, up from a rate of 88% when we polled the market two weeks prior and up from 84% one month ago. Recall we saw negotiation rates as low as 16% in March.
