Buyers often compare quotations weeks apart and wonder why the same product moved 8 %. Steel is a commodity with a raw-material index underneath it; understanding the drivers turns a confusing price into a predictable one.
Hot rolled and cold rolled prices track iron ore and coking coal with a lag of a few weeks. When ore rises sharply, Chinese mills publish list-price increases within the month. If your project allows flexible purchasing windows, buying after a raw-material correction is the cheapest discount available anywhere.
Chinese domestic demand surges after the Spring Festival and before the winter production restrictions. Export prices soften when domestic construction slows, because mills then chase export volume. The months when mills are hungry are the months to place volume orders.
On top of the mill price sit: inland freight to port, export packing, container or breakbulk freight, insurance, and the exporter's margin. For coil products, freight to Latin American ports has historically moved between US$60 and US$150 per tonne — often a larger swing than the mill margin itself.
Anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel products change the landed cost calculation entirely, product by product and country by country. A duty on one product line can make an alternative specification, or an alternative origin mill, the better buy. Any serious quotation should state the producing mill precisely because of this.
Two habits keep you on the right side of the market. First, ask for the quotation's validity period in writing — 7, 14 or 30 days — and hold the supplier to it. Second, when prices move sharply between enquiry and order, ask for a re-quote rather than a discount; a supplier who re-quotes honestly at a lower mill price is a supplier worth keeping.
Send the grade, the size and the quantity — you get a costed quotation within two working days.