SMU Survey: Most buyers say mills are willing to talk price

The bulk of steel buyers responding to this week’s market survey continue to report that mills are open to negotiating spot prices. Negotiation rates have remained high for most of the past three months.

SMU polls thousands of buyers every other week, asking if domestic mills are willing to negotiate on new spot order pricing. This week, 93% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order. While this rate is down two percentage points from our previous survey’s record high, it still represents one of the highest rates in our data history, dating back to 2010 (Figure 1).

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a digital operations analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.