Italian seamless pipe market activity remains very slow due to the summer holidays as well as amid the difficult financial and economic situation in the country. Domestic and export prices of locally produced seamless pipes have not changed over the past month.
Import offers of seamless pipes from Ukraine and the Czech Republic to the Italian market have also remained stable. At the same time, quotations of Chinese seamless pipes have decreased by €20-50/mt over the past month, while prices of Romanian material have declined by around €20-30/mt.
The market is expected to remain quiet until the end of August. Market participants believe seamless pipe prices in Italy may start to go up slightly in September after the holiday period, on the back of expected better demand from foreign buyers and higher scrap prices.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 8"-10" size as per ASTM are at about €1,200-1,250/mt ($1,481-1,543/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 6"-10" Sch 40 size of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €1,220-1,300/mt ($1,506-1,605/mt) FCA, offers of 16" pipes are at €1,390-1,400/mt ($1,716-1,728/mt) FCA, prices of 18" pipes are at around €1,700-1,720/mt ($2,098-2,123/mt) FCA, while prices of 20"-24" pipes are at about €1,800-1,830/mt ($2,222-2,259/mt) FCA for November production.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €740-820/mt ($913-1,012/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
September production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST or ASTM are offered to the Italian market at around €880-900/mt ($1,086-1,111/mt) CPT (17.7 percent AD duty not included).
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Roman) of 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM or as per EN are at about €1,010-1,040/mt ($1,247-1,284/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €1,030-1,050/mt ($1,271-1,296/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.234