The Saudi seamless pipe market sees slower buying activity due to religious holidays and summer vacations. However, seamless pipe suppliers from China have increased their offers for the Saudi market by $10-40/mt over the past month on higher raw material costs, while quotations of Ukrainian material have declined by $20-50/mt on poor demand. At the same time, import offers of seamless pipes from Japan and South Africa have remained unchanged. Besides, market players are very optimistic about the further prospects and think that buying activity will soon gain strength as the month of Ramadan draws to a close.
Most offers of Chinese seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM are being given to the Saudi Arabian market at $800-880/mt CFR, while quotations of seamless pipes from larger Chinese mills are at $940-980/mt CFR.
Quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes (Interpipe) of 2"-10" grade B made to ASTM A106 to Saudi Arabia are at $1,070-1,110/mt CFR, while offers of seamless pipes as per API 5L are at $1,090-1,130/mt CFR.
South African seamless pipes (ArcelorMittal), 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106, are quoted at around $1,050-1,080/mt CFR Saudi Arabia.
Quotations from Japan (NSSMC) for seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at about $1,400-1,450/mt CFR Saudi Arabia.