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

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.

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.