The most commonly heard spot price transaction range for US domestic HDG products has continued to soften in the past week, as lower scrap prices and still-healthy inventory levels continue to place downward pressure on spot market prices.
“Everyone is in inventory reduction mode,” a source said. “A lot of us still think that inventory levels are higher than are being reported and everyone is trying to thin out their stocks before the end of the year.”
It is further believed, that decreased offshore buying activity levels, and thus, lessened import arrivals in early 2018 combined with the current inventory draw-down could create a “perfect storm” when it comes to price increase announcements in Q1 2018.
“Prices are soft now but there’s a lot of talk about things shooting back up in Q1 of next year,” another source said.
Current price points for US HDG coil are listed in the chart below.
| Cwt. | Metric Ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week | |
| US domestic HDG base price | $36-$38 | $794-$838 | $720-$760 | down $1.00 cwt. |
| 0.012”x40.875” G30 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $44-$46 | $970-$1014 | $880-$920 | down $1.00 cwt. |
| 0.019”x48” G90 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $44-$46 | $970-$1014 | $880-$920 | down $1.00 cwt. |
| US domestic Galvalume base price | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $36-$38 | $794-$838 | $720-$760 | down $1.00 cwt. |
| 0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55 | ||||
| ex-Midwest mill | $44-$46 | $970-$1014 | $880-$920 | down $1.00 cwt. |