Lead times for US domestic hot dipped galvanized and Galvalume coil may be stable week-over-week, but spot market prices have continued to inch upward. The most commonly heard spot market price transaction range has widened by $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) on the top end since our last report on October 20. Lead times, sources note, have remained at approximately 12 weeks.
“What we’re seeing in the market is being influenced by a few things,” a source said. “First, mills’ capacity utilization rate still hasn’t cracked 70%, which means that, for once, mills aren’t overproducing. Second, activity within end-use markets, especially automotive, has been better than a lot of us thought it would be.”
A second source agreed but said there’s something else that must be taken into consideration.
“Yes, lead times are out, activity is good and production levels are down, but the big question is whether current pricing is sustainable,” he said. “There’s still a lot of us who are attributing mill pricing to inventory restocking at the service center level. If that turns out to be true, once the steel is delivered, lead times are bound to shorten, and prices are bound to come down. On the other hand, there's a lot of talk from other people about the possibility of this wave carrying over into Q1 of next year. There's tons of speculation as to how this is going to play out.”
This week’s prices are listed in the chart below.
| Product | $/cwt | $/mt | $/nt | Delivery | Weekly change |
| US domestic HDG base price | $41-$44 | $904-$970 | $820-$880 | ex-mill | up $1.00 cwt. On the top end |
| US domestic Galvalume base price | $41-$44 | $904-$970 | $820-$880 | ex-mill | up $1.00 cwt. On the top end |
| 0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55 | $51-$53 | $1,124-$1,168 | $1,020-$1,060 | ex-mill | up $1.00 cwt. On the top end |