Seamless pipe buyers in Saudi Arabia have shown little interest in importing material over the past month as a result of weak demand among end-users. Chinese suppliers have decreased their seamless pipe prices for Saudi Arabia by $20/mt over the past month. Ukrainian suppliers have cut their seamless pipe offers for Saudi Arabia by $10-30/mt over the period under review, while quotations of South African seamless pipes have declined by $10/mt. Seamless pipe offers from top-tier Japanese producer NSSMC have stayed in the previous range. Market players believe buying activity in the Saudi seamless pipe market will hardly pick up in the short run given sufficient inventory levels, low demand from consumers and weak global market sentiment.
Most offers of Chinese seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM are being given to the Saudi Arabian market at $600-620/mt CFR.
Quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes (Interpipe) of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L to Saudi Arabia are at $930-950/mt CFR, while 8"-10" pipes are offered at around $960-970/mt CFR.
South African seamless pipes (ArcelorMittal), 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106, are quoted at around $970-1,020/mt CFR Saudi Arabia.
Quotations from Japan (NSSMC) for seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at about $1,280-1,325/mt CFR Saudi Arabia.