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    Final Thoughts

    July 10, 2026

    Final Thoughts: Is a week of flat prices and lead times signal or noise?

    Written by Michael Cowden

    SMU’s lead times for both hot-rolled (HR) coil and cold-rolled (CR) coil ticked down this week, according to our latest steel market survey. We’re talking less than half a week in each case, which I’d read as essentially flat.

    For what it’s worth, I pay more attention to trends than any one given survey result. But if a trend of flat lead times holds, it would represent a change. And we’ve also seen a few of the other indicators we track slip from historic highs – so the potential shift is worth paying attention to.

    Michael Cowden

    Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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