Domestic demand for seamless pipes in Italy is still said to be weak. However, both domestic and foreign suppliers of seamless pipes have raised their prices in the face of higher raw material costs. Meanwhile, foreign demand for Italian seamless pipes is stronger than domestic demand. Domestic and export quotations of Italian seamless pipes have climbed up by €110-120/mt over the past month. Over the same period offers of Chinese material have moved up by €90-100/mt. Prices of Ukrainian seamless pipes for Italy have climbed by €50-60/mt. Over the past month offers of Romanian seamless pipes for the Italian market have risen by €30-40/mt, while quotations of seamless pipes from the Czech Republic have increased by €30-60/mt. Import quotations of seamless pipes from Belarus have increased by a maximum of €20/mt. The rebound is driven by restocking activity rather than by improving steel pipe consumption on the end-user side.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L are at about €1,000-1,020/mt ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L are at €1,020-1,050/mt FOB, excluding the trader's margin.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at about €760-820/mt C&F Italy, exclusive of antidumping duties (in the range of 17.7-39.2 percent depending on the producer).
May-June production Ukrainian 2"-14" seamless pipes ex-Interpipe grade B as per ASTM A106 are offered to the Italian market at around €900-950/mt DDU (25.1 percent AD duty is not included in this price range).
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Romania) 2"-6" grade B made to API 5L are at about €890-920/mt CPT, prices for 12"-14" seamless pipes grade B made to API 5L are at about €990-1,020/mt CPT, while offers of 16" seamless pipes are being given to the Italian market at €1,100-1,150/mt CPT.
Prices for Czech origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava) 6"-8" grade B made to API 5L are at about €910-960/mt, including delivery inside Italy.
Offers of July-August production 2"-6" hot-formed seamless pipes ex-Belarus SW (BMZ) grade B as per API 5L are being given to the Italian market at €830-850/mt CPT.
Tenaris has announced its results for the first quarter, posting a drop in net profit of 43 percent year on year. The Q1 results were affected by a significant decline in the projects operating segment, where quarterly sales were lower than at any time in the last three years. With activity levels recovering and inventories at more reasonable levels, Tenaris expects sales in its tubes operating segment in the coming quarters to increase in most regions, particularly in North America and the Middle East and Africa. Sales in Tenaris' projects segment, however, will continue to be affected by low shipment levels in the following two quarters but should recover in the fourth quarter.
Steelmaking raw material and steel costs have risen significantly in the year to date. Iron ore prices have seen a particularly strong rise. Major steelmakers have accepted quarterly pricing of iron ore in accordance with spot market prices, putting an end to 40 years of annual contract pricing. This is likely to lead to increased volatility in raw material prices. It is expected that pipe prices will continue to increase though so far they have not matched the raw material price increases.