China's domestic welded pipe market has remained on a downtrend over the past two weeks amid soft demand and weakening flat steel prices. Domestic welded pipe prices of producers in China have dropped by RMB 50-100/mt ($8-16/mt) over the past two weeks, while Chinese traders have cut their offers for local buyers by RMB 80-180/mt ($13-29/mt) over the period under review. China's welded pipe export prices have continued to move down over the past two weeks as buyers are reluctant to purchase amid a negative outlook. China's welded pipe export prices have declined by $10-20/mt during the period in question. It will be difficult for welded pipe prices in China to rebound in the short term considering the insufficient demand.
Current offers of locally produced 2"-6" welded pipes of grade B as per ASTM A53 are being given to the Chinese domestic market at an average of RMB 3,430-3,550/mt ($552-572/mt) ex-works, while domestic offers of welded pipes of grade Q195-235 are at levels of RMB 3,000-3,200/mt ($483-515/mt) ex-works. These local market welded pipe prices include 17 percent VAT.
Traders in Shanghai are offering Q215-Q235 welded pipes made to GB/T3091 at around RMB 2,650-2,850/mt ($427-459/mt) ex-warehouse, while stockists in the cities of Tianjin and Beijing are offering similar pipes at RMB 2,400-2,740/mt ($386-441/mt) ex-warehouse.
Current export prices of welded pipes from large Chinese mills, 2"-10" grade B according to ASTM A53, are at around $480-510/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
$1 = RMB 6.21