Steel Mills
December 15, 2020
HARDI Members’ Fear: What Goes Up Must Come Down
Written by Tim Triplett
Not only are wholesalers who service the HVAC and construction industries wondering how high galvanized steel prices can possibly go, they’re even more worried about how low prices could go once the market normalizes next year.
In a conference call this morning, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) reported firm galvanized base prices of $51/cwt or $1,020 per ton from the mills, up from $45/cwt or $900 just last month and far above the historic average of less than $800 per ton. If galvanized prices revert to the mean and correct by $10/cwt in 2021, that would be a serious blow to the value of inventories held by the trade group’s members.
