Activity in the seamless pipe market has been slow in the UAE over the past month. Seamless pipe buyers in the UAE have been showing little interest in import purchases, waiting to see whether prices will fall before booking material. In the given period, quotations of Chinese pipes have decreased by $10-20/mt, prices for South African material have declined by a maximum of $10/mt, offers of Romanian materials have fallen by $10-15/mt, while quotations of Argentinian, German and Japanese seamless pipes have declined by $20-50/mt. During the past month, import offers of seamless pipes from Ukraine have remained in the same range. Meanwhile, market players hope for better buying activity in May for restocking purposes ahead of Ramadan.
Most offers of seamless pipes of 2"-8" grade B made to ASTM/API from the majority of Chinese mills are being given to the local UAE market at $570-600/mt CFR.
Quotations of Ukrainian (Interpipe) seamless pipes, 2"-6" Sch 40 grade B made to ASTM/API, are at $900-925/mt CFR, while 8"-10" pipes are at $920-950/mt CFR.
Quotations from South Africa for seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM/API are at about $980-1,020/mt CFR.
Seamless pipes from Romania (ArcelorMittal) of 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM are quoted at about $1,055-1,100/mt CFR.
Offers of Argentinian (Tenaris) seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L to the UAE are at $1,330-1,350/mt CFR.
Quotations from France and Germany (V&M) and from Japan (NSSMC) for seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM/API are at about $1,215-1,280/mt CFR.