SteelOrbis sources have reported that current pricing for unfinished J55 ERW OCTG casing from Korea in the US domestic market are still trending at $42.50-$44.00 cwt. ($937-$970/mt or $850-$880/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.
Prices for unfinished J55 ERW OCTG casing from Taiwan in the US domestic market have recently been heard at $40.00 cwt. ($882/mt or $800/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports, although trader sources say they believe they could obtain better pricing on larger-sized bookings.
In terms of import tonnages, the US Department of Commerce reported the US had imported 51,382 mt (census data) of oil country goods from global sources in March 2016; March 24, 2017 data, however, shows that for the current month, the US has imported more than three times that amount.
The most current US DOC reports indicate that a total of 186,294 mt (license data) has been brought into the US from global sources, and the month isn’t over yet.
This month’s license data shows the most significant offshore sources of US import OCTG in March 2017 are Korea, at 72,526 mt, Austria, at 22,022 mt and Argentina, at 19,194 mt.
In contrast, the March 2016 import tonnages from these countries were calculated at 22,522 mt, 8,441 mt and zero, respectively.