The Chinese seamless pipe market has varied between stability and slight decrease over the past two weeks. In particular, domestic seamless pipe prices of producers in China have mostly remained unchanged, dropping by RMB 50/mt ($6/mt) over the past two weeks only in some cases amid softer billet prices. Meanwhile, Chinese seamless pipe producers' export quotations have declined by $10-30/mt over the same period. Chinese traders have cut their offers for local buyers by RMB 50/mt ($6/mt) over the period under review due to the slow recovery of the end-user market. Meanwhile, most market players believe that seamless pipe prices are unlikely to decline further in light of costlier import iron ore costs and the forecast rebound of buying activity in consuming industries this month.
Domestic prices of seamless pipes, 2"-8" grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L, are at around RMB 5,800-6,000/mt ($926-958/mt) ex-works, including 17 percent VAT. Chinese domestic prices of 2"-6" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 are varying at around RMB 4,850-5,300/mt ($774-846/mt) ex-works. Chinese ex-stock prices for 2"-8" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 in Shanghai are varying at around RMB 4,350-4,500/mt ($694-718/mt) ex-warehouse, including 17 percent VAT.
Current export quotations from most Chinese manufacturers for 2"-14" grade B seamless pipes according to ASTM A106/API 5L are on average at $790-840/mt FOB.
Export quotations of Chinese 2"-6" seamless pipes of grade B as per ASTM A106 from stocks can be heard at around $680-720/mt FOB.
SteelOrbis has also heard that offers of Chinese 5 1/2"-9 5/8" casing pipes of J55 made to API 5CT, LTC are at $900-950/mt FOB.