Spot market prices for US domestic HDG and Galvalume coil have continued to climb, as buyers say they’re dealing with a “mill-created shortage.”
“The mills dialed back production when COVID hit, service-centers and end-users thinned out their inventories, and then, demand came back with a vengeance,” a source said. “Yes, more capacity is coming online, and why some of the mills didn’t restart blast furnaces sooner is still a major unknown, but we are where we are. To say current demand is tight would be an understatement.”
Another source agreed. “Every time you look at the market, prices seem to be up another $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt). Mills aren’t even bothering with price increases at this point, prices are just going up,” he said. “Anything you need to buy on [the spot market]—you’re going to pay through the nose for it, because the availability isn’t there. Even the contract buyers are having a hard time getting their tons, and when you consider that contract pricing is $2.00-$2.50 cwt. ($44-$55/mt or $40-$50/nt) below where spot would be, you’re still looking at insanely high numbers compared to where we were a few months ago.”
For now, prices remain strong—and if scrap settles up sharply during this month’s buy cycle, which is what’s currently projected, short-term finished steel prices are likely to climb even higher
This week’s prices are listed in the chart below:
| Product | $/cwt | $/mt | $/nt | Delivery | Weekly change |
| US domestic HDG base price | $48-$50 | $1,058-$1,102 | $960-$1,000 | ex-mill | up $3.00 cwt. |
| US domestic Galvalume base price | $48-$50 | $1,058-$1,102 | $960-$1,000 | ex-mill | up $3.00 cwt. |
| 0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55 | $57-$59 | $1,257-$1,300 | $1,140-$1,180 | ex-mill | up $2.00 cwt. |