The
US domestic and import oil country
tubular goods (OCTG) casing markets may be relatively bleak in the immediate sense, but market players say they aren’t ready to write off the whole year. “People haven’t completely stopped drilling for oil,” according to one source, “but they have slowed down quite a bit. Demand isn’t entirely dead, it’s just much less than it was a year ago.”
According to April 28 data from the Steel Import Monitoring Analysis System (SIMA), April global
US imports of OCTG casing came in at 220,276 mt (license data), which is less than half of what was imported during the month of January, when
US import tonnages were 495,104 mt. Some believe that
US import tons will continue to drop off in May and June, and that “it’s only a matter of time before all that dries up and buyers need to reenter the market.” For now, offshore futures prices continue to be “very flexible based on the order.” As with last week, “official” futures offer prices for unfinished J55 ERW OCTG casing from
Taiwan are still at approximately $43-$44 cwt. ($948-$970/mt or $860-$880/nt), DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf coast ports, although some traders have cited a belief that they could “probably get $60-$80/nt better than that if we brought some big tons to the table.” Futures prices from Korean producers are also “mostly stable” at approximately $44.50-$45.50 cwt. ($981-$1,003/mt or $890-$910/nt), DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf coast ports, but the gap between first and third-tier mill pricing is still “all over the map.”
Domestic prices for finished J55 ERW OCTG casing are sideways in the past week, at $49.00-$50.00 cwt. ($1,080-$1,102/mt or $980-$1,000/nt), ex-Midwest mill, although sources close to SteelOrbis continue to report that all ex-
US mill pricing is negotiable.