SMU Survey: Buyers say mills less willing to negotiate prices

Just over half of the steel buyers who responded to our market survey this week reported domestic mills are willing to talk price on new spot orders. Mills have begun to hold a firmer stance on prices over our last two surveys.  

SMU polls hundreds of service center and manufacturer buyers every other week to see if domestic mills are negotiable on new spot order prices. This week, 55% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order. This is down 16 points from our late October survey and the lowest rate measured since April (Figure 1).