US mills' flat-rolled lead times were little changed on Wednesday from the prior week as hot-rolled coil has stabilized and plate remains depressed.
The average mill lead time for HRC remained unchanged at 5.1 weeks. The stability week-to-week was a positive for mills after lead times rebounding from a low of under three weeks at the end of June. US mill lead times for HRC averaged under five weeks from the week of April 8 through the week of July 1.
The rebound in lead times corresponded with two consecutive price increase announcements by most domestic mills which helped to spur buying activity and raise transaction prices. The daily Platts TSI US HRC price assessment was up by $53.25/st to $555.50/st after hitting a low in early July.
Mill lead times for CRC increased by 0.1 week to 5.3 weeks while lead times for HDG decreased by 0.1 week to an average of 6.2 weeks.
The plate market remained depressed amid a lack of service center buying which held mill lead times short. The average as-rolled plate lead time was unchanged at 2.7 weeks and has been below three weeks since the end of June.
In turn, plate prices remained under pressure with the daily Platts TSI US HRC plate price falling by $16.50/st to $737.75/st on a delivered Midwest basis.
Source: S&P Global Platts