Although Chinese mills have slowly stopped offering standard pipe to the US due to the pending antidumping case, they are still plenty of X42 line pipe and OCTG offers for US destinations. However, along with buyers of many other Chinese products, buyers of Chinese pipes are getting nervous about the quality of the product.
Pipe buyers in the US show some reluctance to purchase line pipe from China if it is needed for a higher grade application. Most receivers now independently test pipes ex-China, especially when it is suspected that the pipes have made using narrow band coils.
Some standard pipe products, such as galvanized pipe and 1/2" to 2" diameter pipe cannot be classified as line pipe, so the buyers cannot buy these products from China, leaving room for other higher-priced competition to enter the market. For the time being, import standard pipe prices are too high to be workable, though in the mid-term, some countries like India and Turkey may resume shipments.
Fortunately for the US line pipe market, Chinese line pipe offering prices for the US have stabilized and are not expected to decrease in the near future since Chinese domestic flat rolled prices are going up. However, domestic line pipe and OCTG producers are unhappy that Chinese mills still receive the full 13 percent VAT rebate for both welded and seamless line pipe and OCTG. Many people agree that US API pipe producers would love to follow the standard pipe producers' lead and file an antidumping case against energy pipes as well; however, they may have a hard time proving injury since these companies are still making record profits from the energy boom.
For now, Chinese ERW X42 line pipe offers (2 to 8 inches in diameter) range from approximately $33.00 cwt. to $35.00 cwt. ($728 /mt to $772 /mt or $660 /nt to $700 /nt) FOB loaded-truck in Houston. Larger sizes (over 16 inches in diameter) range from $36.00 cwt. to $38.00 cwt. ($794 /mt to $838 /mt or $720 /nt to $760 /nt) FOB loaded-truck in Houston.
On the domestic side, the US pipe market is still sluggish due to high inventories and slow demand from the construction sector. Inventories of ERW standard pipe are still high in part because Chinese material is still arriving from orders placed before the antidumping case was filed. Still, demand for standard pipe is decent compared to demand for most steel products, and domestic producers are optimistic that the antidumping case will be successful, with domestic prices rising as a result. The market is still slow for the time being, and it will probably be several months before standard pipe prices start to go up.
Market sources tell SteelOrbis that most domestic ERW A53 offers range from $42.00 cwt. to $44.00 cwt. ($926 /mt to $970 /mt or $840 /nt to $880 /nt) ex-mill. Domestic offers for structural pipe (A500 Grade 8) range slightly lower at $38.00 cwt. to $40.00. ($838 /mt to $842 /mt or $760 /nt to $800 /nt) ex-mill.