HARDI: Is Bump in the Coating Extras Overdue?

Will the rest of the domestic steel mills announce new coating extras in first-quarter 2018, raising the price on galvanized steel? There was no clear consensus among members of the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) during their monthly conference call earlier today.

Recent mill price announcements have stemmed the decline in galvanized prices, but the market does not appear strong enough to support much of an increase. “I think the mills were fairly successful in stopping the slide, but prices have not really inched up too significantly,” observed one distributor. “We have not seen support on the service center level. If price increases are going to stick, the service centers have to support them,” said another.