Players within the
US domestic in import oil country
tubular goods (OCTG) casing markets have seemingly entered their final countdown, as the International Trade Commission (ITC) is set to release their final determinations in the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cases this Friday. “There are a lot of people with skin in the game,” according to one trader source, “and Friday’s announcement could really shake things up.” Domestic producers have long claimed they’re losing the lion’s share of the market, and just about everyone seems to have their fingers pointed at Korean mills—with good reason, according to import data.
July 8 data released by the Steel Monitoring Import and Analysis (SIMA) shows
US import OCTG tonnages from
Korea spiked during the month of May, coming in at 194,959 mt (census data), which was the highest level seen in more than one year. June import tonnages from
Korea were also significant, at 139,449 mt (license data), making last month the third highest import tonnage month since May of last year. If the ITC does in fact slap
Korea with hefty margins, the ruling could be a proverbial game changer. In terms of pricing, everything remains unchanged since our last report a week ago, with the most commonly reported
US domestic spot price transaction range is still $59.00-$61.00 cwt. ($1,300-$1344/mt or $1,180-$1,220/nt) ex-Midwest mill, while import prices from first-tier Korean producers remain at $47.50-$48.50 cwt. ($1,047-$1,069/mt or $950-$970/nt) DDP loaded truck
US Gulf coast ports.