The Italian seamless pipe market shows no signs of improvement. Domestic and import seamless pipe prices in Italy have edged down over the past month due to dull market conditions and a lack of orders. Thus, Italian suppliers have cut their prices for standard seamless pipes by €50/mt ($66/mt) over the past month amid stagnant demand across the region. During the period under review, quotations of Chinese, Romanian and Czech seamless pipes have decreased by €10-20/mt ($13-26/mt), while Ukrainian producers have left their offer prices unchanged. The Italian seamless pipe market is expected to remain sluggish given the low levels of demand from consuming industries. European customers for industrial seamless pipes will continue to be affected by weak economic activity as well. However, demand for Italian seamless pipes for the oil industry from the Middle East is expected to increase slowly, supported by current oil and gas prices.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size of grade B as per ASTM are at about €1,000-1,050/mt ($1,312-1,378/mt) ex-works, while offers of 8"-10" seamless pipes are at around €1,050-1,100/mt ($1,312-1,443/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-10" Sch 40 of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €1,000-1,100/mt ($1,312-1,443/mt) FCA or €1,030-1,130/mt ($1,352-1,483/mt) FOB for July-August production.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €660-730/mt ($866-958/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
May production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST, ASTM or EN are offered to the Italian market at around €730-780/mt ($958-1,023/mt) CPT (12.3-13.8 percent AD duty not included).
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Roman) of 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM or as per EN are at about €960-970/mt ($1,260-1,273/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €940-960/mt ($1,233-1,260/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.31