US HDG import prices nearing bottom

Following months of declines, import hot dipped galvanized (HDG) and Galvalume offer prices to the US appear to finally be hitting a bottom. The overall slide has shown a noticeable slowdown in the last couple of weeks, especially amid a rising trend in the US domestic market. Last week, US domestic flats mills announced their second round of price increases in less than a month. While it often doesn't take long for offshore mills to push for their own increases once US domestic mills raise prices, this isn't the case at the moment. Import bookings have certainly been decent, and even improved for some HDG and Galvalume products, but many customers are still cautious about placing orders for material that wouldn't arrived until Q4.

Some traders are a bit more confident and have booked some position tons, especially with Chinese prices for HDG 0.012"x40.875" G30 and 0.019" x 48" G90 increasingly attractive. Import Galvalume activity is a bit slower, but could pick up if Taiwanese and/or Chinese offer prices dip even further. Previously purchased imports, on the other hand, have arrived into the US at strong numbers the last couple months. According to US SIMA data, 162,088 mt (license data) of HDG sheet and strip arrived last month, compared 146,184 mt (census data) in April. Most notably, imports from India and Korea recorded the largest month-over-month jumps in May. Indian HDG sheet and strip imports totaled 32,191 mt in May, compared to 17,665 mt in April. Korean HDG sheet imports were 28,934 mt in May, up from 13,525 mt in April, and the highest level in nearly a year.

*DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports
**DDP loaded truck delivered into Houston