Waves of uncertainty still permeating US import HDG market

Although some are still trying to make their best guess as to when a trade case may be filed against certain offshore hot dipped galvanized (HDG) producers, others have said they’ve given up on that, because “a watched pot never boils.”  Trader sources say it’s hard to gauge the exact impact a case may have on the market; on one hand, some point out there is a chance (albeit slim) that a filing could be rejected in the preliminaries and it may only last six to eight weeks.  Others point to the most recent US import license data that shows for the month of August, US import HDG tonnages from China came in at 63,016 mt (license data), while India came in at 21,169 mt (license data). If both countries (along with other producers in Southeeast Asia) are knocked out of the market, even for a little while, this could open the doors for other, currently less significant offshore producers, to pick up US market share. In terms of futures prices, those have held neutral since our last report a week ago, with sources close to SteelOrbis saying they’ll continue to take things on a day-by-day basis.