US HDG price increase met with skepticism

Spot market prices for US domestic HDG coil have remained mostly neutral since our last report a week ago, although sources close to SteelOrbis are reporting that mills are “still trying to push prices higher.”

“This range pretty much captures it,” a source said, commenting on base-price HDG spot market prices. “The bigger guys are paying a little less and the smaller guys are paying a bit more. The mills are wanting to get the spot market up a bit higher but based on what’s going on with demand, I’m not sure if they’re going to be able to pull it off—and if they can pull it off, I’m not confident they’ll keep higher prices for long.”

Another source agreed.

“I think that the mills want to get things up as much as they can, so when the market starts to crack, it won’t swing as far back to the left,” another source said. “I don’t think we’ll see things back where they were in August, but I don’t think that current market fundamentals support where the market is now.”

Another point to consider, sources note, is the early expectation that US scrap prices could trend soft-sideways in February, which would certainly factor into HDG spot market prices.

Current price ranges for coated steel products are listed in the chart below.