SMU Survey: Mills remain flexible on pricing, buyers say

The majority of steel buyers responding to our market survey this week continue to say that mills are negotiable on new spot order prices. Negotiation rates have remained high since May.

SMU polls thousands of buyers every other week on whether domestic mills are negotiable on new spot order pricing. This week, nearly nine in 10 respondents (88%) said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order. This rate is below both our previous survey (93%) and the record-high seen in mid-July (95%), but still holds strong by historical standards. (Figure 1).