Activity has been relatively quiet within the US domestic and import J55 ERW oil country tubular goods (OCTG) casing markets in the past seven days, although “flexible price points” continue to be the prevalent trend.
Futures offer prices for unfinished J55 ERW OCTG casing from Taiwan are still in the “official range” of $43-$44 cwt. ($948-$970/mt or $860-$880/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports, although trader sources say that if they showed up with an offer they’re “pretty sure we could get $60-$80/nt better than that.” Korean futures prices for the same product are also steady since our last report a week ago, at $44.50-$45.50 cwt. ($981-$1,003/mt or $890-$910/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports, but there’s quite a gap between first tier and third tier mill pricing, according to other source, which tends to put Korean offers “in a range that’s better classified as being all over the map.”
Domestic prices for finished J55 ERW OCTG casing are also lateral, at $49.00-$50.00 cwt. ($1,080-$1,102/mt or $980-$1,000/nt), ex-Midwest mill, although sources close to SteelOrbis say that all of this is negotiable.
Yet despite the lackluster activity, some say they aren’t ready to write the year off just yet. They feel that the upswing in rig count could be as swift as the recent downturn, and that “come fourth quarter, the getting is going to be good.”