According to Oct. 15 data from the
US Department of Commerce, current
US import standard pipe tonnages total 42,952 mt (licensed data), which is just 6,000 mt tons shy of Sept. import tonnages, which were tallied at 48,924 mt. The Sept. and Oct. import tons, however still show an approximately 25 percent reduction from levels seen in August, when
US import tons of standard pipe totaled 77,574 mt (census data).
In terms of spot prices, those have mostly held steady since our last report a week ago, although an increasing number of transactions are taking place in the lower end of the most commonly reported range, and deals are said to be available for buyers who are looking to book significant tons. Thus,
US domestic spot pricing continue to trend approximately $42.50-$43.50 cwt. ($937-$959/mt or $850-$870/nt), ex-Midwest mill, while futures prices from Vietnamese and Turkish producers has also remained sideways at approximately $29.00-$30.00 cwt. ($639-$662/mt or $580-$600/nt), DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf coast ports. As with our last report, SteelOrbis sources report that order activity remains sluggish.