Buying Galvanized Steel and Prepainted Steel
Buying Galvanized Steel and Prepainted Steel….
Buying from overseas is arduous and tests even the very best pocurement managers. China is of course the destination for most and it is an ocean. Needless to say even the best swimmers respect the ocean before venturing out.
China can be deceptive and certainly price is not the only criterion while purchasing Galvanized Steel or prepainted steel from China.
After you have done your share of Ganbeis (and damaged your liver), make sure you have a steady head as you inspect the mills. There are hundreds of private mills, some starting from HR but most buying the CR or Galavanized and often doing just painting.
Ask some questions? Do they have skinpassed equipment? How are their labs? Where do they buy their raw materials?
Remember in some provinces the quality in general is lower than in others. If you are price driven then venture to these provinces particularly Shandong and some extent Zhejiang Province.
Standard zinc coating here is Z20 and not Z30 or Z40. The word “about” has a large variance. Top Painting is usually 11-12 microns and not ordered 15 microns. And Aluzinc (Galvalume) is not 55% aluminium but 5-8% aluminium.
And if you are buying structural grade, the hardness is managed not through the chemistry of the feedstock (Hot Rolled) but at the annealing process of cold rolling.
If you are buying Z80 zinc coating, it is most likely it will be Z40 or lower and after painting (and the rice wine you have had the previous nite) you will not know until the materials arrive and been tested. I have lent my steady shoulders to Korean suppliers at buyers` warehouses where cargo have been rejected for the zinc coating and according to the supplier despite having tested it.
My guess is that initially the coil may have been Z80 and then Z40 after a couple of laps. Magic!!! Yes even this is possible and perhaps the customer was lucky because Trading companies have shipped concrete nicely packed in steel export packing.
It is all not gloom and doom. Chinese mills can make the best quality steel especially the state owned mills and the larger private owned companies. Quality is some provinces is higher.
In generally we divide mills into three types…..A, B and C. So make sure you have your life jacket on (a trusted partner) before you venture out into the ocean. Better still traverse on a safe boat and email us at [email protected]
And finally you always get what you pay. There is something like a feed stock price, processing cost, value addition cost, prevailing price level, order quantity and usually you cannot beat the price by more than a percentage or two. If you have got more than 2% you a great negotiator and more than 5%, you are a fool. And in between, the pendulum could be anything in between (maybe it is a good freight, maybe your future potential biz)