Sources close to SteelOrbis continue to report that Indian and South African hot dipped galvanized (HDG) producers are “amply willing to offer discounts” on sales prices of 0.012”x40.875” G30, but those discounts are failing to garner additional interest due to concerns about possible price-softening for US domestic HDG.
“Yes the price is good but a lot of people are starting to wonder if the recent gains we saw in domestic HDG prices will start to rollback,” one source said. “No one is desperate to buy anything right now so a lot of buyers are stepping back to take a wait-and-see approach to the market. On one hand, you have the domestic mills which are trying to keep prices firm, but on the other, there’s a lot of talk that scrap prices could come down again next month which could throw a big wrench into the mix.”
SteelOrbis sources further believe that offshore suppliers will become increasingly aggressive with their offer prices in hopes of garnering the attention of US-based buyers.
It should also be noted that some US-based traders are still wary about booking import HDG tonnages from Indian producers, as there continues to be concern that mills in this country, which received relatively low preliminary margins in the still-pending HDG trade case, could receive much higher margins once the final determinations are rolled out.