US import HDG market mostly steady amidst tiny adjustments

Most futures offers for US import hot dipped galvanized (HDG) and Galvalume coil have held steady since our last report a week ago, although tiny adjustments have been seen for Chinese 0.012”x40.875” G30 and Indian 0.019”x48” G90.  “There’s still a whole lot of stuff that’s sitting around at the ports,” according to SteelOrbis sources, who note that the buyers who decided to take a gamble on futures at the end of the year due to the absence of trade case action are now “sitting around on a lot of stuff that’s still not spoken for.”   End-use demand within the US domestic market is still good; the market is simply oversaturated with product at the moment, as supply is vastly outpacing demand.

Other sources report that “quiet meetings” by offshore producers to discuss the ramifications of a potential Q2 trade case filing are already starting to happen.  Although everything remains uncertain until when, and if that happens, offshore mills seem to be fastening their seatbelts.