Last week, AK Steel and US Steel joined NLMK USA and ArcelorMittal USA in raising prices on US domestic hot dipped galvanized (HDG) coil, effective immediately, with all new spot market orders.
US Steel announced they would be raising prices by $3.00 cwt. ($66/mt or $60/nt); AK Steel announced they would be raising prices by $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt). Sources close to SteelOrbis say that while they were not surprised that US Steel and AK Steel joined other flats mills in pushing for higher prices, they were surprised the announcements came more than a week after NLMK USA and AMUSA sent increase letters to customers.
It's further believed that US domestic flats mills will take advantage of increased input costs as long as they can, “because everyone lost so much money last year that as long as mills see an opportunity to raise prices, they’ll keep raising prices,” one source said.
Other sources say they believe that the uptrend in US domestic HDG prices could trend into the summer; they also express concern that once scrap prices begin to level, if not retract, that US domestic flat rolled steel prices will also be vulnerable to correction.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic HDG base price | $31.50-$33.00 | $694-$728 | $630-$660 | up $1.00 cwt. on the low end, $0.50 cwt. on the top end |
| 0.012”x40.875” G30 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $39.00-$40.00 | $860-$882 | $780-$800 | up $1.00 cwt. |
| 0.019”x48” G90 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $37.00-$38.50 | $816-$849 | $740-$770 | up $1.00 cwt. on the low end, $1.50 cwt. on the high end |
| US domestic Galvalume base price | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $28.50-$30.00 | $628-$661 | $570-$600 | up $1.00 cwt. |
| 0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $38.50-$40.00 | $849-$882 | $770-$800 | up $1.00 cwt. |