Offshore producers of US import J55 ERW OCTG casing from Korea and Taiwan have fallen silent since our last report a week ago, as trader sources have said that offshore mills have temporarily withdrawn offers to US-based buyers due to recent upticks in raw materials costs.
As such, US-based traders have stopped offering imported J55 ERW OCTG casing in the US domestic market from Korea and Taiwan to customers until offshore mills are able to present them with revised offer prices.
“Mills in Southeast Asia are still trying to figure out what their input costs are going to be,” one trader source said. “Once they’re better able to gauge what their raw materials costs are going to look like we expect they’ll start offering again.”
Trader sources have indicated a strong belief that once offers resume, that the updated ex-Korea and ex-Taiwan pricing will be higher than what was previously offered.
Overall order activity is firm, and steady, sources note, adding that upticks in the US domestic rig count, coupled by steady oil prices have helped bolster the market.
In terms of previous pricing, last week SteelOrbis reported that pricing for US import J55 ERW OCTG casing from Korea in the US domestic had been heard at approximately $37.50 cwt. ($827/mt or $750/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports; while the most commonly heard offer pricing for US import J55 ERW OCTG casing from Taiwan in the US domestic market had been heard in the approximate range of $35.50-$36.50 cwt. ($783-$805/mt or $710-$730/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.