October 18 data from the US Department of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance indicates that for the month of August, the US imported 14,869 mt (census data) of oil country goods from Korean steelmakers; in contrast, in August 2015 Korean steelmakers shipped 17,125 mt of oil country goods to US Gulf coast ports.
For the month of Sept. 2016, Korea shipped 17,137 mt (census data) of oil country goods to the US, whereas in Sept. 2015, Korean steelmakers shipped 19,964 mt (license data) of oil country goods to US Gulf coast ports.
In terms of current prices, pricing for unfinished, import oil country tubular goods tubing from Korea in the US domestic market has maintained its sideways trend since our last report a week ago, at $33.50-$34.50 cwt. ($739-$761/mt or $670-$690/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.
Sources close to SteelOrbis, however, say pricing for import oil country tubular goods OCTG tubing from Korea in the US domestic market could begin to firm in the near future due to recent global upticks in raw materials costs.