Steel Products

Buyers Say Mills Less Willing to Negotiate Lower Prices: SMU Survey

October 12, 2023

The mill negotiation rate for all products SMU looks at fell this week, with hot rolled dropping 13 percentage points, according to our most recent survey data.

The percentage of respondents saying steel mills were willing to talk price on hot rolled was 78% this week, down from 91% two weeks prior. Meanwhile, galvanized stood at 44%, tumbling 56 percentage points in the same comparison.

Every two weeks, SMU asks steel buyers whether domestic mills are willing to negotiate lower spot pricing on new orders. This week, 59% of participants surveyed by SMU reported mills were willing to negotiate price on new orders, diving 31 percentage points from 90% two weeks earlier (Figure 1). This is the lowest rate since the middle of April. This comes amid the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike and as sheet prices have moved up for the second consecutive week.

Figure 2 below shows negotiation rates by product. Cold rolled dropped 21 percentage points from two weeks earlier to 69% of buyers reporting mills more willing to negotiate price; and plate was 67%, off eight percentage points. Galvalume stood at 42%, down 42 percentage points. We have averaged in the previous market check’s reading due to fewer market participants for this product.

Here’s what some survey respondents had to say:

“(Willing to negotiate on plate), with large tons.”

“Galv is like gold now.”

“Not seeing much negotiation right now (on hot rolled).”

“ I was out with some West Coast folks and they were still willing to negotiate a bit (on HRC) but nothing like a few weeks ago.”

Note: SMU surveys active steel buyers every other week to gauge the willingness of their steel suppliers to negotiate pricing. The results reflect current steel demand and changing spot pricing trends. SMU provides our members with a number of ways to interact with current and historical data. To see an interactive history of our Steel Mill Negotiations data, visit our website here.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.