The situation in the Italian seamless pipe market remains unfavorable. Despite low stocks in the country, local pipe traders are cautious as regards concluding purchases, amid poor demand and rather high prices. However, over the past month, domestic seamless pipe prices have remained largely unchanged in Italy despite subdued trading activity, supported by stable raw material costs. During the period under review, prices of Romanian seamless pipes for Italy have declined by €20/mt (23$/mt). Over the same period, offers of Chinese material have moved down by €25-30/mt (28-34$/mt). Prices of Ukrainian seamless pipes for Italy have declined by €30-35/mt (34-40$/mt) during the past month, while import quotations of seamless pipes from the Czech Republic have decreased by a maximum of €10/mt (11$/mt). The Italian seamless pipe market will likely remain dormant ahead of the traditional summer vacation season.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size as per ASTM or EN are at about €1,020-1,060/mt ($1,153-1,198/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" Sch 40 of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €1,070-1,100/mt ($1,209-1,243/mt) FOB.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €560-620/mt ($633-701/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST, ASTM or EN are offered to the Italian market at around €770-785/mt ($870-887/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 €930-960/mt ($1,051-1,085/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €915-930/mt ($1,034-1,051/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.13