Foreign suppliers of seamless pipes continue to maintain upward price policies for the Saudi Arabian market amid strong demand and the number of current projects in the domestic oil and gas industry. Chinese seamless pipe prices have been raised by $60-80/mt over the past month. Prices for Ukrainian pipes have risen by $100-135/mt over the same period. Import quotations of seamless pipes from Romania have increased by $200-250/mt. Quotations of seamless pipes from Russia have increased by $200-230/mt over the period under review. Offer prices from Japan have risen by $150/mt over the past month.
In particular, offers of Chinese seamless pipes 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are being given to the Saudi Arabian market at $900-950/mt C&F.
Quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes (Interpipe) 2"-14" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at $1,100-1,150/mt C&F. Russian seamless pipes 8"-14" grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L are being offered to the Saudi market at $1,280-1,300/mt C&F.
Romanian seamless pipes from ArcelorMittal 2"-10" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are quoted at around $1,300/mt C&F Saudi Arabia. Quotations of 2"-6" seamless pipes from South Africa (ArcelorMittal) grade B as per API 5L are at about $1,100-1,150/mt C&F.
Quotations of seamless pipes to Saudi Arabia from Japan (Sumitomo) for 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are varying at about $1,400-1,450/mt C&F.
The overall outlook for the market is positive. Saudi Arabia plans to spend more than $400 billion up to 2013 on projects such as roads, hospitals or other infrastructure to serve its mainly young population of 18 million nationals. The government is seeing clear signs of a recovery so it could be that spending is spread more evenly over the full year. It is hard to sustain high spending from one quarter to the next but the government's announced spending program is on course. In the fourth quarter last year the value of contracts had risen to SAR 32 billion versus SAR 20 billion in the same period in the previous year. These factors create a reliable platform for a strong steel market in the country, including the seamless pipe sector.