The situation in China's seamless pipe market has been rather bleak over the past two weeks as buyers gradually exit the market ahead of the Chinese New Year break. Chinese domestic seamless pipe prices have mostly followed a stable trend over the period under review amid scarce trading, while China's seamless pipe export prices are also unchanged amid a lack of transactions in the market. Market players believe the current soft demand is unlikely to indicate significant changes before the Spring Festival.
Domestic prices of 4"-8" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 are varying at around RMB 3,900-4,280/mt ($628-689/mt) ex-works, including 17 percent VAT.
Chinese ex-stock prices for 2"-8" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 in Shanghai are at around RMB 3,300-3,600/mt ($531-580/mt) ex-warehouse, including 17 percent VAT, while traders in Tianjin and Beijing are offering the same pipes at around RMB 3,200-3,450/mt ($515-556/mt) ex-warehouse.
Current export quotations from most Chinese manufacturers for 2"-6" Sch40 grade B seamless pipes according to ASTM A106/API 5L are on average at $550-580/mt FOB.
$1 = RMB 6.21