Oil futures saw a slight bump during both Wednesday and Thursday of this week; market analysists suspect the rise was due to unexpected declines in domestic gasoline inventory levels.
Yet while falling gasoline inventories are a positive, the US Energy Information Association (EIA) this week reported that domestic crude oil inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels; this is the second time that US crude intently levels rose in the past 11 weeks.
“The market is still a mess and yes, the rig counts are starting to show some signs of recovery but the [line pipe] market is hardly popping out the champagne,” one source said, adding that any upticks in order activity have been slight. “Any sort of meaningful recovery is still months away because we’re still dealing with a global oil supply glut.”
In terms of current line pipe pricing, both import and futures offers are holding lateral.
US domestic spot market prices for API X-42 ERW line pipe continue to be heard in the approximate range of $40.00-$42.00 cwt. ($882-$926/mt or $800-$840/nt), ex-Midwest mill, while futures prices from Korean producers are still being heard in the approximate range of $26.50-$27.50 cwt. ($584-$606/mt or $530-$550/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.