Seamless pipe demand in Italy remains stagnant

Thursday, 11 March 2010 10:02:23 (GMT+3)   |  
       

Due to lower demand for seamless pipes in the Italian market from all sectors, including the power plant sector, the industrial and automotive sector and the oil and gas sector, domestic and export quotations of locally produced seamless pipes have remained unchanged over the past month. At the same time, prices of Chinese seamless pipes for Italy have climbed by €80-95/mt. Over the past month offers of Ukrainian seamless pipes for the Italian market have risen by €20-50/mt, while quotations of seamless pipes from the Czech Republic have increased by a maximum of €10/mt. In the coming period, the weakening of the euro and higher prices for iron ore and coal will lead to rising production costs. As a result, market players expect that the upward trend for seamless pipes will be maintained. With activity levels now recovering and inventories at more reasonable levels, market players expect export shipments in the seamless pipe segment to show a recovery in 2010 from the low levels recorded in 2009.

Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-5" size grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L are at about €900-950/mt ex-works, while prices for 6"-8" pipes are at around €1,000-1,050/mt ex-works.

Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-5" size grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L are at €930-980/mt FOB, while quotations for 6"-8" size are at €1,030-1,080/mt FOB.

Prices for Chinese seamless pipes 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at about €630-670/mt C&F Italy, exclusive of antidumping duties (in the range of 17.7-39.2 percent depending on the producer).

March-April production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes ex-Interpipe grade B as per ASTM A106 are offered to the Italian market at around €730-740/mt DDU, while offers for 8"-12" seamless pipes are at €770-780/mt DDU (25.1 percent AD duty is not included in either of these price ranges).

Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Romania) 6" grade B made to API 5L are at about €830-850/mt CPT, while offers of 16" seamless pipes are being given to the Italian market at €1,050-1,070/mt CPT.

Prices for Czech origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava) up to 6" grade B made to API 5L are at about €850-880/mt, including delivery inside Italy.


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