Offshore structural pipe offer prices to the US have finally begun to tick up, in response to increasing hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in their respective domestic markets and after the plethora of price increases announced since late November by US domestic pipe and flat rolled mills.
With US domestic standard pipe prices up approximately $4.00 to $5.00 cwt. ($88 to $110/mt or $80 to $100/nt) ex-mill from four weeks ago, buyers still had little interest in pursuing offshore offers (even though import pricing had remained neutral), mostly due to continued stagnant demand in construction and other standard pipe end-use sectors, and unpredictable market conditions come end Q1 and beginning Q2.
Regardless, since our last report two weeks ago, offshore standard pipe offers to the US have increased an average of $3.00 to $5.00 cwt. ($66 to $110/mt or $60 to $100/nt), leading to even less interest in offshore pipe. And unlike some importers of pipe's raw form of HRC, increasing standard pipe prices have not yet and are not expected to scare buyers to booking before prices climb even higher. The US standard pipe market has a much cloudier outlook than HRC through Q1 and into the beginning of Q2, that most buyers are willing to pay a higher domestic price if they need product to fill an inventory holes or unexpected orders.
Nevertheless, most Korean mills are now offering electric resistance weld (ERW) black plain end (BPE) A53 standard pipe at about $50.00 to $52.00 cwt. ($1,102 to $1,146/mt or $1,000 to $1,040/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf Coast ports, representing an approximate $5.00 cwt. ($110/mt or $100/nt) increase from earlier in the month. While some traders may still be able to negotiate for deals in the upper $40's cwt., Korean mills appear to have let the possible antidumping (AD) rumors get the best of them, and are no longer the cheapest players out there. Taiwan is another offshore source that is on the US DOC's "red list" for filing AD orders against regarding standard pipe, resulting in most Taiwanese offers to the US being pulled off the table.
The most attractive standard ERW BPE offers are commonly being generated from Malaysia, at approximately $48.00 to $50.00 cwt. ($1,052 to $1,102/mt or $960 to $1,000/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf Coast ports, reflecting a $3.00 cwt ($66/mt or $60/nt) increase from two weeks ago. New Indian and UAE offers are expected to surface by the beginning of next week.