With US domestic hot dipped galvanized (HDG) prices sliding, inventory stocking has become all but non-existent and buying activity has slowed substantially.
While demand for coated flat steel products in the US continues to be steady, demand alone isn't strong enough to stave off pressure for falling domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) spot prices. As a result, HDG 0.019"x48" G90 spot prices have fallen $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the high end of most transactions since last week into the range of $51.00-$52.00 cwt. ($1,124-$1,146/mt or $1,020-$1,040/nt) ex-Midwest mill. Galvalume base spot prices have also slipped $1.00 cwt. on the high end since last week and can be found between $39.00-$40.00 cwt. ($860-$882/mt or $780-$800/nt) ex-Midwest mill.
Since HRC and cold rolled coil (CRC) spot prices are poised to keep slowly falling, at least for another couple weeks, it is inevitable that another reduction in HDG and Galvalume spot prices will follow as well. Sources have informed SteelOrbis that in addition to a hazy outlook for the flat-rolled market in the long term, many now have to carefully watch year-end inventory levels, resulting in most service center buyers either reducing inventory or just strictly maintaining existing inventories. But with HDG and Galvalume lead times extremely short-only a couple weeks in some cases-few are too concerned enough about being caught short-stocked to buy too much of anything.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic HDG base price | $38.00-$40.00 | $838-$882 | $760-$800 | neutral |
| 0.012"x40.875" G30 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $51.00-$52.00 | $1,124-$1,146 | $1,020-$1,040 | neutral |
| 0.019"x48" G90 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $51.00-$52.00 | $1,124-$1,146 | $1,020-$1,040 | ↓$1.00 cwt. on high end |
| US domestic Galvalume base price | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $39.00-$40.00 | $860-$882 | $780-$800 | ↓$1.00 cwt. on high end |
| 0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $50.00-$52.00 | $1,102-$1,146 | $1,000-$1,040 | neutral |
As for imports, little has changed in the last week, with the exception of a $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) drop in Galvalume 0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55 offer prices from Taiwan; but even with the drop, Taiwanese prices are still about $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) higher than US spot prices. With offshore mills unwilling to lower prices to a level that would be of interest to US buyers, opting to sit on the sidelines for the time being, traders tell SteelOrbis that the last few weeks (and even the last couple months) have been abnormally quiet. Even import lead times now entirely into 2012 (with the exception of Mexico) are still not enough to convince US buyers to bite.
| Import HDG offers to the US | Cwt. | Metric ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week |
| 0.012"x40.875" G30 | ||||
| India* | $50-$51 | $1,102-$1,124 | $1,000-$1,020 | neutral |
| China* | $48.50-$49.50 | $1,069-$1,091 | $970-$990 | neutral |
| Mexico** | $49-$50 | $1,080-$1,102 | $980-$1000 | neutral |
| 0.019" x 48" G90 | ||||
| China* | $49.50-$50.50 | $1,091-$1,113 | $990-1,010 | neutral |
| India* | $52-$54 | $1,146-$1,190 | $1,040-$1,080 | neutral |
| Mexico** | $49-$50 | $1,080-$1,102 | $980-$1000 | neutral |
| Taiwan* | $53-$55 | $1,168-$1,213 | $1,060-$1,100 | neutral |
| Import Galvalume offers to the US | ||||
| 0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55 | ||||
| Taiwan* | $52-$53 | $1,146-$1,168 | $1,040-$1,060 | ↓ $0.50 cwt. |
| Mexico** | $50-$52 | $1,102-$1,146 | $1,000-$1,040 | neutral |
| China* | $52-$53 | $1,146-$1,168 | $1,040-$1,060 | neutral |
| India* | $53-$54 | $1,168-$1,190 | $1,060-$1,080 | neutral |
**DDP loaded truck delivered into Houston