A steel price per ton only means something at a stated quantity, because the cost of a rolling run, a set of rolls and a quality test is spread over whatever tonnage the order carries. An order of a few tons asks the mill to carry the same setup as a much larger one, so the tonnage available to pay for that setup is smaller and the figure per ton rises. Freight behaves the same way: a container costs broadly the same to move whether it is full or half full, so the freight element per ton falls as the load fills. This is why two buyers comparing the same grade, the same port and different volumes can be quoted figures that look unrelated.
Two thresholds are worth asking about before you compare anything: the minimum quantity the mill will roll for one size and grade, and the physical limit of what a container can carry. Ask for the quantity break points rather than a single figure, then compare every offer at the tonnage you actually intend to buy. Where your requirement sits below the mill minimum, it can sometimes be covered from stock or combined with another order, but that is a different supply arrangement with its own lead time and should be agreed in writing rather than assumed.
Lead time moves with quantity for the same underlying reason. A size that is already scheduled or held in stock can load quickly, while a size or grade outside the current rolling programme waits for the next campaign rather than the next vessel. Buyers who read the quotation as a price only tend to find this out after the order is placed, when the sailing date no longer fits the project or the workshop.
The practical move is to send the grade, the standard, the dimensions, the tonnage you intend to order and the destination port, and to ask for the price at two or three volumes together with the lead time for each. One request like that shows you the volume where the cost per ton flattens out, and the volume that loads cleanly into a container instead of leaving weight on the table. Xi’an Junlin Chicheng Metal Products Co., Ltd has supplied steel since 2003, with more than 20 years of experience, a factory of over 80,000 square metres, annual capacity of 6 million tons and buyers in more than 100 countries, sourcing from partner mills that operate ISO 9001 quality systems, and every order ships with a mill test certificate traced to its heat number. Send us your requirement and we will reply with the volumes, the price at each and the lead time, usually within one working day.