SMU Survey: Mills hold grip on prices, buyers say

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.

Negotiability low for all products

Four of the five products we track saw reduced negotiation rates this week, while one increased (Figure 2). Current rates are:

Hot rolled: 20% of buyers said mills are negotiable on price, up seven percentage points from our prior survey.
Cold rolled: down two points to 18%.
Galvanized: down four points to 29%, the lowest negotiation rate measured in over a year.
Galvalume: down two points to 31%.
Plate: down 11 points to 11%, the lowest rate recorded in three years.

Buyer remarks:

“[Not negotiable on hot rolled], why would they?”

“They don’t budge [on hot rolled], limited availability.”

“Not enough [hot rolled or cold rolled] spot available to really even negotiate.”

“Galvanized spot tons available are very limited.”

“Bigger [galvanized] buyers still expected to do better than advertised prices.”

Note: SMU surveys active steel buyers every other week to gauge their steel suppliers’ willingness to negotiate new order prices. The results reflect current steel demand and changing spot pricing trends. Premium members can view an interactive history of our steel mill negotiations data on our website.

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.