The Italian welded pipe market has weakened under the influence of softening prices for flat products, continuing poor demand from end-users, financial problems and high stock levels. Customers are very cautious on the issue of making big purchases before the end of the year and are buying only what they need. Domestic and export prices of Italian welded pipes have declined by €10-30/mt over the past month. On the other hand, import offers of welded pipes to the Italian market have decreased by €30-50/mt over the period of review.
Current local prices for Italian welded pipes of 2"-6" size with wall thickness of 2.0-4.0 mm as per EN 10219 made from base steel grade S235JR HR coils are at about €425-480/mt ex-works (here and below on a theoretical weight basis and excluding 20 percent VAT). Italian producer Arvedi's quotations for welded pipes up to 8" of L235 steel grade as per EN 10208, used for combustible fluids, are at €500-520/mt delivered for November production. Domestic prices for standard-size precision welded tubes E235 grade as per EN 10305-3 are at about €630-650/mt ex-works. Pickled pipes of sizes up to 6" from Italian producers are being offered to the domestic market at around €580-600/mt ex-works, with galvanized pipes at about €670-700/mt ex-works.
Current local offers of precision welded thin wall pipes made to EN 10305-3 are at €740-790/mt ex-works for pipes made from CRC DC01 grade (in particular, 60 x 1.0 mm and 102 x 1.2 mm pipes) and at €690-740/mt ex-works for pipes made from HRC S235JR grade (in particular, 154 x 1.5 mm and 219 x 2.5 mm pipes). Large diameter welded pipes (in particular, 280 x 3.0 mm) are quoted at about €940/mt ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian 2"-6" welded pipes as per EN 10219 are at about €455-510/mt FOB (transportation by sea) or €430-480/mt ex-works (transportation overland). In particular, offer prices for Spain are in ranges of €485-540/mt C&F or €460-510/mt CPT.
Offers from most Turkish suppliers of industrial welded pipes with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from HR coils are standing at an average of €420-440/mt C&F to Italy and €430-450/mt C&F to Spain. The prices of Turkish welded pipes with 1.5 mm wall thickness made from CR coils are at about €485-510/mt C&F to the Italian market and at €495-515/mt C&F to the Spanish market. Offers of Turkish 10"-12" welded pipes of L290 steel grade made to EN 10208 from Borusan Mannesmann to Italy are on average at €600/mt DDU.
Quotations of Indian black welded pipes of 1"-6" size as per BS 1387 or DIN 2440/2444 or EN 10255 to the Italian market are at the level of €510-530/mt C&F. Offer prices of Romanian welded pipes (ArcelorMittal) up to 10" of L235 steel grade as per EN 10208 are at about €500-520/mt including delivery inside Italy for November production material. Offers of Bulgarian welded pipes to the Spanish market are standing at an average of €510-550/mt CPT.
Offers to Italy of galvanized steel pipes of 1"-4" size as per EN 10255 (light series) from Poland are at around €790/mt delivered.
The prospects for the European automotive and construction sectors remain subdued. Despite the stabilization of the financial markets, financing is still a bottleneck for many companies. Some customers have been cautious in returning to the market and have mainly sought only to fill gaps in their stocks. As a result, there has been a downward trend in the number of orders. It is expected that recovery will be slow in the coming months and will remain surrounded by high levels of uncertainty.