[ferro-alloys.com]US hot-rolled coil lead times continued to hover around five weeks on Wednesday while cold-rolled and hot-dip galvanized were around seven weeks, according to S&P Global Platts data.

The weekly average US HRC lead time retracted 0.4 week to an average of 4.9 weeks. Mill lead times have been within 0.3 week of a five week average since the middle of February and above a four week average since late January. Typically, lead times averaging longer than four weeks generate a stable to rising price environment.

Since mid-January, the daily Platts TSI US HRC assessment has traded in a $20/st band between $680-$700/st.

Average mill lead times for CRC and HDG continued to be supportive off pricing. The weekly average CRC lead time was down just 0.2 week to 6.9 weeks while the HDG average lead time remained unchanged at 7.6 weeks.

Plate lead times continued to stay flat for a third week. There was a split between certain mills in to May for orders while one was heard to be as short as two to three weeks, according to a service center source. The average mill lead time for plate was at 5.3 weeks.

(S&P Global Platts)

• [Editor:王可]