Despite US pipe mills' determination to increase prices for most products while import prices had been steadily decreasing over the past month, US buyers are now demonstrating less interest in import offers, even as the price gap grows.
Oil country tubular goods (OCTG) remain the most sought after pipe product in the US, although activity has tapered off a little in recent weeks. Nevertheless, domestic API J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) OCTG prices have continued to climb; now ranging from approximately $65.00 cwt. to $67.00 cwt. ($1,433/mt to $1,477/mt or $1,300/nt to $1,340/nt) ex-mill, with some mills already pushing for orders up to $70.00 cwt. ($1,543/mt or $1,400/nt). Conversely, the most attractive import OCTG offers, which remain out of Korea, have decreased about another $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) from our last report two weeks ago and can mostly be found from about $50.00 cwt. to $52.00 cwt. ($1,101/mt to $1,146/mt or $1,000/nt to $1,040/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Most buyers continue to be increasingly hesitant, though, to invest in the long-term by purchasing imports which obviously carry much longer lead times (some are out until October already) than domestically. On another note, according to Baker Hughes, US rig counts have bounced back after a slight dip the first week of June, recording two consecutive double-digit gains in weekly rig counts, with the total active number of rig counts for the week ending June 18 now at 1,539.
Similarly on the other energy pipe product, domestic offers on API X42 ERW line pipe, have increased to approximately $59.00 cwt. to $61.00 cwt. ($1,301/mt to $1,345/mt or $1,180/nt to $1,220/nt) ex-mill, while import offers out of Korea decreased about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) from our last report and have now established a significant price gap, ranging from approximately $46.00 cwt. to $47.00 cwt. ($1,014/mt to $1,036/mt or $920/nt to $940/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Most Turkish offers are also ranging around the above-mentioned prices; however, Turkish mills may have a little more price flexibility to get the deal done on most orders. Nevertheless, according to license data from the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA), 18,440 mt of line pipe has been imported into the US form Korea during the month of June, which is already more than the 17,206 mt imported from Korea in May.
Switching over to the structural standard pipe market, import offers and subsequent activity has waned further since two weeks ago, due to the obvious weakness in construction activity but also now fueled by the wide range of preliminary antidumping duties (AD) placed on many mills offering out of Korea, Turkey and India. Most imported electric resistance welded (ERW) black plain end (BPE) A53 Grade A standard pipe offers from Turkey and India have remained relatively neutral over the past couple weeks, at approximately $43.50 cwt. to $44.50 cwt. ($959/mt to $981/mt or $870/nt to $890/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports, with Korean offers still ranging from around $45.00 cwt. to $46.00cwt. ($992/mt to $1,014/mt or $900/nt to $920/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. All of the above offers may have the flexibility of negotiating downward by about $1.00 cwt. to $2.00 cwt. ($22/mt to $44/mt or $20/nt to $40/nt); however, most buyers who are already leery about purchasing imported pipe will now certainly be extra cautious entertaining any offers from mills with AD extras.
As a side note, Indian standard galvanized plain end (GPE) pipe offers are extremely slow right now. Most offers can only be generated from traders submitting specific order requests to the mills. With that being said, offers for Indian GPE may still possibly be found at a minimum of $50.00 cwt. ($1,102/mt or $1,000/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports.