Offshore mills who have been named in the US’ antidumping and countervailing duty investigations against oil country tubular goods (OCTG) casing seem to have switched gears full force to offering line pipe. Trader sources have confirmed that the three most notable players continue to be Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan, whose US sales prices for API X-42 ERW line pipe have come down by approximately $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) in the past week, placing current ranges at $39.00-$40.00 cwt. ($860-$882/mt or $780-$800/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf Coast ports. Korean pricing is approximately $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt), which is garnering little interest from US buyers, who say Korean mills are most focused on exports of OCTG casing.
Meanwhile, spot prices for US domestic API X-42 electric resistance welded (ERW) are unmoved in the past seven days and are still in the approximate range of $54.00-$55.00 cwt. ($1,191-$1,212/mt or $1,080-$1,100/nt) ex-Midwest mill. Lead times continue to trend at sub four-week levels as buyers report that production levels are far outpacing current market demand. At this point, it is not believed that prices will show signs of firming until demand picks up or production slows down, neither of which is expected to happen in the foreseeable future.