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Galvanizing: Product Quality Issue with Shipped Containers

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Q. Hello, everyone!
We're facing a puzzling issue and could use some input. We have a manufacturing unit in India and shipped three containers to a customer in California over a 5-month period (October 2023, February 2024, and April 2024). A year after receiving the first container (in October 2024), the customer contacted us, reporting that all the products from these three shipments now exhibit visible defects (see attached picture).

61798-1b 61798-1b%20dtl

61798-1a 61798-1a%20dtl

Notably, there were no issues reported when the containers were initially received. Here's what we know:
1. Samples from the same galvanizing lot, retained at our manufacturing unit in India, are in perfect condition.
2. Other customers on both the East and West coasts who received products from the same galvanizing lot have not reported any problems.
3. I personally visited the customer's storage facility, and it appears to be well-ventilated, without any obvious exposure to damp or closed conditions.
4. There are no issues with coating thickness, it is perfect.
We're struggling to identify the root cause of this problem. Could it be related to storage, transit, or some unforeseen environmental factor? Any thoughts, experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance for your help!

A Sharma
- Great Falls, Virginia
January 6, 2025

A. The images suggest salt water contamination in transit or at ports between.
The white staining is often called White rust, sometimes wet storage stain. It is often bad in shipped products. Even sealing in plastic sometimes make it worse as the journey goes through different climates or temperature and humidity conditions.

Geoff Crowley, galvanizing consultant
Crithwood Ltd.

Bathgate, Scotland, UK

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