Italy's welded tubes and tubular goods market has started to move upwards in recent days, players in the market have reported.
The main driving force which is pushing tubular goods in an upward direction is the increase in coil prices, domestically and also internationally, due to the low availability of flat products from non-European Union countries, as well as due to the surge in production costs. The rise in flats prices has had an immediate impact on tubemakers, who, also on account of the low level to which tube quotations had fallen in the weeks before the Christmas holidays, have begun to cut their discounts by several percentage points. This price maneuver, which is characterized by certain variations, has in part been favored by the situation as regards inventory levels, which are currently medium-to-low at all levels of the sector. Turning to consumption, while apparent demand is positive, real demand is experiencing some difficulties.
Looking towards the weeks ahead, those who were interviewed are expecting further increases in the prices of tubular goods. In the longer term, tubemakers foresee possible problems in sourcing raw materials, especially in the second quarter of 2008.