US import HDG tonnages soar year-on-year despite comparable prices

The most commonly reported futures prices for Chinese and Indian import 0.019" x 48" G90 hot dipped galvanized (HDG) coil may have held steady since our last report a week ago, but this week, prices on 0.012”x40.875” G30 from Indian mills have come down by approximately $1.25 cwt. ($28/mt or $25/nt), to match futures offers from China. Trader sources have said that while the current Galvalume ranges are, for the most part, neutral, “there are deals to be had if you’re looking to book tons.”

What is interesting, however, is that although current prices are comparable to prices available at this time last year (see chart below), import tonnages in the past 12 months are through the roof.  According to the latest data from the Steel Monitoring Import and Analysis (SIMA), for the month of September, US hot dipped galvanized sheets and strip import tonnages totaled 294,041 mt (license data), which is almost twice September 2013 tonnages, which totaled 165,282 mt (census data).  September 2014 import tonnages from China and India were at 85,861 mt (license data) and 39,730 (license data), respectively, which is a stark contrast from the 24,363 (census data) and 19,105 (census data), respectively, seen in the same month last year.