Buyers Continue to Hold Upper Hand in Price Negotiations

A very high percentage of sheet buyers continue to report that mills are willing to talk price to secure an order, as they have since May, with more than nine out of ten reporting that this week. Negotiations on plate products are not as common, with slightly more than half of buyers reporting they are able to negotiate lower prices on new orders.

Every other week, SMU asks survey respondents: Are you finding domestic mills are willing to negotiate spot pricing on new orders? On average, 86% of steel buyers polled this week reported that mills were willing to negotiate on new order pricing. Two weeks ago we saw a rate of 91%, the highest rate recorded since January. As shown in Figure 1, negotiation rates have remained relatively high for over six months.