Spot prices for
US domestic finished J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) oil country
tubular goods (OCTG) casing have held steady in the past week, although flexibility beyond the average transaction range is still available for buyers interested in booking larger tonnages. The most commonly reported spot price range is still $61.00-$62.00 cwt. ($1,345-$1,366/mt or $1,220-$1,240/nt) ex-Midwest mill, although deals as much as $5.00-$6.00 cwt. ($100-$132/mt or $100-$120/nt) below this range are available through some distributors, a trend which has sustained since late December. Industry insiders say inquiries and order activity continue to remain light, as customers keep tight inventory levels and only place orders as-needed.
Looking offshore, offer prices from Korea,
Taiwan,
India and
Vietnam are unchanged in the past week and are still in the approximate range of $44.00-$45.00 cwt. ($970-$992/mt or $880-$900/nt) DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf ports. Trader sources say they continue to hear rumblings about a potential anti-dumping suit against Korea, although some have begun to question whether this is just another round of "crying wolf." There have been at least three rumored definitive filing dates for this case since mid-September of last year, all of which have since come and gone. At the current time, Korea continues to be the largest offshore importer of unfinished OCTG to the
US.
US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data show that Korea was largest offshore supplier for OCTG in the
US in January with 97,792 mt based on license data. The second largest offshore importer during that time was Saudi Arabia with 25,296 mt.