Global oil prices may have climbed back above the $50 per barrel rate, but despite higher prices, and upticks in the US rotary rig count, market players still feel that “any sort of meaningful recovery is still months out.”
Order activity has picked up, sources note, adding that year-on-year sales volumes are “definitely up from where they were in 2015,” but buying activity, and market sentiment, is still being tempered by the pending presidential election, which will take place on Nov. 8.
“In one corner, you we have a candidate that wants to open up the domestic energy markets and in the other corner we have a candidate that says she intends to put an end to fracking,” one Texas-based source said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty right now in terms of the market because of that, and a lot of people are holding off on making any decisions until the situation moving forward becomes clearer.”
In terms of pricing, both import and domestic prices have held lateral since our last report a week ago. Ex-Midwest mill spot market pricing for API X-42 ERW line pipe continues to trend at $40-$41 cwt. ($882-$904/mt or $800-$820/nt), ex-Midwest mill, while US import API X-42 pricing from Korea is still being heard at $27.50-$28.50 cwt. ($606-$628/mt or $550-$570/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.