US offshore HDG and Galvalume prices hold steady, for now

The spread between US domestic and offshore hot dipped galvanized (HDG) and Galvalume spot prices has widened quite a bit in the past four weeks, as offshore mills have kept prices steady while domestic mills have made a strong push to firm the market.   This trend could lead to an uptick in offshore bookings, traders tell SteelOrbis, as prices from China and India are looking more and more attractive.  In terms of recently arriving tons, the most recent US Steel Monitoring Import and Analysis (SIMA) data shows that for the month of March, the most significant offshore source for import tons of sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized was India, at 35,689 mt (license data), with the second largest importer being China, at 34,376 mt (license data).