Market Data
July 23, 2026
SMU Survey: Mill negotiability slips, sheet hits multi-year lows
Written by Brett Linton
The majority of steel buyers responding to our market survey this week report that mills are holding a firm grip on prices. The share of buyers reporting that mills were willing to negotiate fell to the lowest rate seen in nearly five years. Negotiation rates remain at or near historic lows across all of the sheet and plate products we track.
Every other week, SMU surveys an array of service center and manufacturer buyers asking whether mills are negotiable on new spot-order prices for sheet and plate products. In our latest survey, just 10% of overall respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order (Figure 1). This is down eight percentage points from our early July survey and marks the lowest measure recorded since September 2021.
Limited negotiability across all products
All four of the sheet products we track saw lower negotiation rates this week (many at multi-year lows), while plate saw a moderate increase (Figure 2). Current rates are:
- Hot rolled: 4% of buyers said mills are negotiable on price, down 26 percentage points from our prior survey. This is now the lowest rate recorded since September 2021.
- Cold rolled: down four points to a near-five-year low of 7%, surpassing the 14-month low previously set in May.
- Galvanized: down seven points to 11%, the lowest measure seen since September 2021.
- Galvalume: down one point to 13%, marginally higher than the four-year low seen in late June.
- Plate: up 10 points to 18%, previously sitting at a three-year low.
Buyer comments:
“I saw this rising [on hot rolled] and honestly, I think it was just mills throwing out a bananas price and then backing off to keep some ‘goodwill’… Why would they actually negotiate right now?”
“Not enough [hot rolled] available to negotiate.”
“Plate mills are running behind and cutting no deals.”
“[Negotiable on galvanized and Galvalume] for large orders.”
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.
