Demand in the UAE seamless pipe market is mostly slow, while foreign seamless pipe suppliers have adopted different price policies. In particular, prices of Chinese seamless pipes for the UAE have decreased by around $20-30/mt over the past month. Quotations of seamless pipes from South Africa, Japan and Germany have gone down by a maximum of $50/mt, while offers of pipes from Argentina have remained almost unchanged over the period under review. At the same time, offers of seamless pipes from Ukraine have moved up by around $35-45/mt, while offers for seamless pipes from Romania have increased by around $10-20/mt on currency fluctuations. Meanwhile, Emirati traders remain mostly cautious and are keeping their stocks at appropriate levels, preferring to wait and see. However, consumer demand for seamless pipes in the UAE is not expected to improve until the fourth quarter of the year as the summer approaches and as new projects are not being announced.
Offers of Chinese seamless pipes of 2"-8" grade B made to ASTM/API are being given to the local UAE market at $850-900/mt CFR.
Quotations of Ukrainian (Interpipe) seamless pipes, 2"-10" Sch 40 grade B made to ASTM/API, are at $1,075-1,135/mt CFR.
Seamless pipes from Romania (ArcelorMittal) of 3"-12" grade B made to ASTM are quoted at about $1,300-1,350/mt CFR Dubai, while offers of 18"-20" pipes are being given at $1,890-1,900/mt CFR.
South African (ArcelorMittal) seamless pipes, 3"-6" grade B made to ASTM/API, are being quoted to the UAE in the range of $1,070-1,100/mt CFR.
Offers of seamless pipes from Argentina, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM/API from Tenaris, are being given to the UAE at $1,500-1,530/mt CFR.
Quotations from France and Germany (V&M) and from Japan (Sumitomo) for seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM/API are at about $1,350-1,450/mt CFR.