During the week ending September 13, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have remained stable. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $550-570/mt FOB, moving sideways compared to September 6, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $570-580/mt FOB, November shipment, remaining stable compared to September 6.
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
575 |
- |
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
575 |
- |
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
655 |
- |
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
560 |
- |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved sideways amid the fluctuating trend in ferrous metal futures prices. Cautious sentiment has prevailed among market players, resulting in a slowdown in purchasing activities in the steel pipe market. Iron ore prices have edged down in the given week, weakening the support for steel pipe prices from the cost side. Moreover, demand from downstream users has not indicated significant improvement yet even though the traditional peak season of September has already begun. It is thought that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move sideways in the coming week.
As of September 13, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,852/mt ($536/mt), decreasing by RMB 56/mt ($7.8/mt) or down by 1.4 percent since September 6.
$1 = RMB 7.1894