Analysis
April 30, 2026
SMU Survey: Mills hold grip on prices, buyers say
Written by Brett Linton
The majority of sheet and plate buyers responding to our latest market survey continue to say that mills are not willing to negotiate new-order spot prices. Price flexibility faded in late 2025, and mills have held a firm grip since. This week, we saw low negotiation rates across all products, though coated products are the most negotiable and plate products are the least.
Every other week, SMU polls over 1,000 service center and manufacturer buyers to see whether mills are willing to negotiate on new spot-order pricing. This week, 22% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order (Figure 1). This is down one point from our previous survey and just three points higher than our early April reading, which was the lowest negotiability rate recorded in over a year.
