The situation in the Italian seamless pipe market remains poor amid ongoing weakness of activity. Domestic and export prices of locally produced seamless pipes have decreased by €35-50/mt ($43-61/mt) over the past month because of cheaper feedstock materials and weak demand. During the period under review, import offers of seamless pipes to the Italian market have not changed. Market sources believe that the Italian seamless pipe market will remain quiet until September. Meanwhile, export demand may improve in the third quarter after the summer holidays in Europe and Ramadan in the Middle East, though market sentiment remains soft amid the sluggishness of the global economy.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 8"-10" size as per ASTM are at about €1,200-1,250/mt ($1,464-1,525/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 ($1,488-1,586/mt) FCA, offers of 16" pipes are at €1,390-1,400/mt ($1,696-1,708/mt) FCA, while prices of 20"-24" pipes are at about €1,800-1,830/mt ($2,196-2,233/mt) FCA for October-November production.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €790-840/mt ($964-1,025/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
August production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST or ASTM are offered to the Italian market at around €880-900/mt ($1,074-1,098/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 €1,040-1,060/mt ($1,269-1,293/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 ($1,257-1,281/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.22