April 2014 | Galvanized Steel and Tinplate Market Tracker
HDG prices rise amid tightening supply, rising demand: American Market Highlights
Now that spring has finally sprung, HDG (and galvalume) demand has also begun to improve noticeably.
When US steelmakers first announced their intention to raise hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) and other flat-rolled steel prices, which had previously been slipping, by $40/short ton in mid-March, we were very skeptical that it would be able to succeed, other than establishing a much needed pricing floor at the time a base price of about $720-$760/short ton.
By early April, however, when Nucor announced a second, $30/short ton price hike round, which was quickly followed by a number of other major mills both east and west of the Rockies, the story had changed drastically largely due to a number of unanticipated supply issues. It started with the blast furnace outage at AK Steels Ashland, KY, works, followed by US Steel temporarily suspending operations at its Great Lake Works in Ecorse, MI, after a collector main collapsed onto the roof of a basic oxygen process shop there late...
ACCESS RESTRICTED
You must be a paid subscriber to view the full content.
Content over 60 days old can only be accessed by subscribers.
Call +44(0)20 7779 8000 with your credit card details or subscribe online.
SUBSCRIBE
Receive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts. Plus download the latest issue as soon as its published.
Subscribe