Upward pricing trend continues for US domestic HDG

US domestic flats mills’ most recent price increase has begun to impact the spot market, and additional price firming has been seen across all segments.  This puts the current average spot market transaction range for US domestic hot dipped galvanized (HDG) at approximately $39.00 cwt. ($860/mt or $780/nt), which was the exact target mills aimed for when they sent out increase announcement letters at the end of last month.

And as with last week, although mills are certainly quoting a higher range for specialty grades, domestic buyers aren’t really biting. Lesser-priced offshore offers from Chinese and Indian mills are starting to look increasingly attractive when compared to what’s available domestically.

	Cwt.	Metric Ton (mt)	Net ton (nt)	Change from last week
US domestic HDG base price	$38.00-$40.00	$838-$882	$760-$800	up $1.00 cwt.
0.012”x40.875” G30
ex-Midwest mill	$46.00-$48.00	$1,014-$1,058	$920-$960	up $1.00 cwt.
0.019”x48” G90
ex-Midwest mill	$47.00-$49.00	$1,036-$1,080	$940-$980	up $2.00 cwt.
US domestic Galvalume base price
ex-Midwest mill	$38.00-$40.00	$838-$882	$760-$800	up $1.00 cwt.
0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55
ex-Midwest mill	$47.00-$49.00	$1,036-$1,080	$940-$980	up $1.50 cwt.