Why does steel need to be galvanized? What is the price of galvanized steel?

Why does steel need to be galvanized?

Hot-dip galvanized steel is a composite of steel and zinc that combines the advantages of both materials, including the strength and plasticity of steel and a corrosion-resistant coating, and is widely used in industries such as construction, appliances, and automobiles.

The main process of hot-dip galvanizing: Hot-dip galvanizing refers to the relatively large difference between the melting points of steel and zinc. We know that the melting temperature of pure iron is 1534 degrees and the melting point of zinc is only 419 degrees. The strip steel thus treated can be directly dipped into the molten zinc for galvanizing.

After annealing the strip enters the zinc pot and up to this point, the galvanized strip leaves the pot under the isolation of air. We can see an air knife to control the thickness of the zinc layer and then we can see four small red holes. This is where the strip should be reheated to obtain a 7-15% iron content in the coating if an alloyed product is produced, this is the alloyed product and the subsequent step is cooling.


Hot-dip galvanized steel sheet has an attractive surface, good corrosion resistance, and good processing properties.

Galvanized steel sheets have two types of appearance, one with normal zinc bloom and one without zinc bloom. In the past, because the lead in the zinc solution could not be refined very pure, there would always be some zinc bloom on the surface of the hot-dip galvanized steel sheet, so our old idea was that there was zinc bloom in the hot-dip galvanized product. With the demand of the automotive industry, if the hot-dip galvanized automotive sheet was required to be painted, the zinc bloom would have an effect on the painting. Later, by reducing the lead content in zinc ingots and liquids to a concentration of a few tens of ppm, we were able to produce products with no or very little zinc bloom. For special applications, such as buildings that still prefer large zinc blooms, we can obtain large and beautiful zinc blooms by adding elements such as lead or antimony to the zinc solution.


Today, galvanized cold-rolled sheet and galvanized sheet prices in northern China fell by about USD3 per ton and USD1.4 per ton respectively; 1.2mm cold-rolled sheet prices were USD589 per ton and 1.0mm galvanized sheet prices were USD638 per ton. Today's galvanized steel market is not very volatile and is relatively stable, with falling prices dominating the market. It is reported that the current market transaction environment is neither cold nor hot more usual, as the Chinese New Year is approaching, most downstream industries' demand is also gradually reduced, now the epidemic is also more serious in the surrounding cities of Liaocheng, the market sentiment is still cautious wait-and-see.