Flat rolled steel prices have been dropping over the past few weeks and the wholesalers who service the mechanical contractors are concerned as the pace of the price decline quickens. Earlier today Steel Market Update participated in the HARDI sponsored galvanized steel conference call. HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration Distributors International) wholesalers supply galvanized sheet and coil (along with many other products) to the mechanical contractors involved in the residential, industrial and commercial construction markets. Once per month the group conducts a conference call dedicated to better understanding what is happening in the galvanized steel market.
One of the service centers on the conference call pointed out the lead times on hot rolled products are very short and much worse than what they are seeing for galvanized steels. They noted that service center inventories have been building and there is a question as to how much longer will they build before the correction begins to take the excesses out of the marketplace. Foreign price spreads between domestic and import offers are being reduced and the service center was questioning how much risk are companies willing to take on foreign imports versus staying with their domestic suppliers.\