June 23 data from the
US Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance indicates that current June import tonnages of oil country
tubular goods from global sources has been recorded at 57,946 mt (license data); the current month’s arrivals reflects an approximate 43 percent dip from June 2015, when
US import OCTG tonnages were recorded at 100,975 mt (census data.)
Sources close to SteelOrbis have confirmed that although current futures offer prices from Korean and Taiwanese OCTG producers is still trending at approximately $27.50-$29.50 cwt. ($606-$650/mt or $550-$590/nt), DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf Coast ports, that “pricing is really all over the map depending on who you are and what you’re wanting to buy.”
Domestic pricing at the mill level is also a bit uncertain, sources note, adding that if people need material they continue to broker it from one another, due to the “months-worth of inventory that is still on the ground and unspoken for.”
“If someone needs OCTG casing they’re getting it from another service center because there’s still tons of years-old stock that’s sitting around,” one source said. “All of that is being sold at a discount and it just doesn’t make sense for anyone to order anything from a mill at this point.”