There isn’t a lot of optimism within the US domestic energy pipe markets, and this holds true for API X-42 ERW line pipe. “It’s pretty brutal out there right now,” according to one East Coast-based source. Yet that’s not to say the market is lacking activity- orders are still being placed, according to other sources, but most of those have delivery dates that span toward the end of the second quarter or the start of the third. In the past, he said, the bulk of their customers were requesting an ASAP turnaround. “We’re all just hanging on tight waiting for this thing to end,” added a Texas-based source.
Spot prices have not moved in the past week, although everything remains “very flexible.” The most commonly reported US domestic range continues to hold at $45.00-$46.00 cwt. ($992-$1,014/mt or $900-$920/nt) ex-Midwest mill, with futures offers from Taiwanese and Vietnamese producers still trending at $35.00-$36.00 cwt. ($772-$794/mt or $700-$720/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports. Texas-based sources are reporting that that previously ordered, on-the-ground, higher-priced offshore inventories are currently being offered in roughly the same range, “just so people can get rid of it.”