With buyers in the US too skeptical about the current US domestic hot dipped galvanized (HDG) and Galvalume price run-up, import booking activity has been extremely quiet so far in December. According to trader sources, substantial offshore orders were placed in early to mid-November for February and early March arrival, but with import lead times now in late March and April, even a spread of as much as $5.00 cwt. ($110/mt or $100/nt) between some import prices and US domestic spot prices isn't enough to lure buyers to place an order that won't arrive until Q2.
As a result, Indian and Taiwanese mills have been lowering their offer prices to the US in an attempt to convince US buyers to book. Both Indian and Taiwanese HDG 0.019" x 48" G90 offer prices to the US have fallen about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) since last week, but are still very much negotiable, according to industry insiders, and if buying activity from the US remains as quiet as it has been so far this month, prices could fall even further.
| Import HDG offers to the US | Cwt. | Metric ton (mt) | Net ton (nt) | Change from last week |
| 0.012"x40.875" G30 | ||||
| India* | $46-$47 | $1,014-$1,036 | $920-$940 | neutral |
| China* | $46-$47 | $1,025-$1,047 | $930-$950 | neutral |
| Mexico** | $45-$47 | $992-$1,036 | $900-$940 | neutral |
| 0.019" x 48" G90 | ||||
| China* | $47-$48 | $1,036-$1,058 | $940-$960 | neutral |
| India* | $46-$47 | $1,014-$1,036 | $920-$940 | ↓ $1.00 cwt. |
| Taiwan* | $49-$50 | $1,080-$1,102 | $980-1,000 | ↓ $1.00 cwt. |
| Import Galvalume offers to the US | ||||
| 0.019x41.5625 Gr80/AZ55 | ||||
| Taiwan* | $48-$49 | $1,058-$1,080 | $960-$980 | neutral |
| Mexico** | $47-$49 | $1,036-$1,080 | $940-$980 | neutral |
| China* | $47.50-$48.50 | $1,047-$1,069 | $1,047-$1,069 | neutral |
**DDP loaded truck delivered into Houston