Welded steel pipe prices in the domestic Mexican market closed this week at US$975/mt ex-mill, reflecting an ample increase of US$60/mt from two weeks ago. Meanwhile, structural steel tubing prices increased US$32/mt to reach US$891/mt ex-mill during the same two-week interval.
A sharp increase in demand is responsible for the price bump according to sources, as new pipeline projects are starting up. For example, Pemex launched the tender of pipeline to transport natural gas 740 kilometers in Mexico, a project worth an estimated US$2.5 billion.This is the second phase of the pipelin--called The Ramones--which will import natural gas from the United States (Agua Dulce, Texas), where the price of energy is the lowest in the world.
The Ramones project seeks to supply natural gas to states like Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato and Queretaro, where different production sites are installed, some of which have experienced shortages of energy-critical alerts, especially last year.
The first phase of the pipeline, which runs the border with Tamaulipas to Los Ramones, Nuevo Leon, was directly awarded in January to a company called TAG Pipelines, a subsidiary of Pemex Gas and Basic Petrochemicals (PGPB).