Demand for seamless pipes remains weak in Italy amid the holiday season in southern Europe. Domestic quotations of Italian seamless pipes have remained unchanged over the past month, while export offers have increased by a maximum of €20/mt ($27/mt) due to the expected improvement in buying activity after the end of summer holidays. In the import segment, only offers of Chinese material have moved up, rising by €30/mt ($40/mt), while Ukrainian suppliers have decreased their prices by a maximum of €10/mt ($13/mt). Romanian and Czech producers have left their offer prices unchanged. Market participants think that seamless pipe suppliers may raise their prices in September given upward sentiments in the European market for raw materials and the anticipated gradual recovery of consumer demand in the autumn.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size of grade B as per ASTM are at about €1,000-1,030/mt ($1,330-1,370/mt) ex-works, while offers of 8"-10" seamless pipes are at around €1,050-1,080/mt ($1,395-1,435/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-10" Sch 40 of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €1,000-1,100/mt ($1,330-1,463/mt) FCA or €1,030-1,130/mt ($1,370-1,503/mt) FOB for October-November production.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €680-730/mt ($904-971/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
August production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST, ASTM or EN are offered to the Italian market at around €750-770/mt ($997-1,024/mt) CPT (12.3-13.8 percent AD duty not included).
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Roman) of 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM or as per EN are at about €960-970/mt ($1,277-1,290/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €940-950/mt ($1,250-1,263/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.33