The exact outcome of the antidumping and countervailing duty case against certain offshore producers of oil country
tubular goods (OCTG) casing may still be about six weeks out, but what will or will not happen is still anyone’s guess. At this point, what is known is that the preliminary zero percent margins that had been granted to Korean mills do not have much chance of carrying through. Some have heard that margins could creep north of the 20 percent mark, but other say Korean mills feel they’ll believe 8 to 10 percent is a more accurate range. Also of note is recent chatter that Dongbu Steel may be looking to close its OCTG operations and focus more strongly on hot rolled coil (HRC). That alone could indicate that the Koreans have great concerns about the final announcement, so much so that OCTG producers are looking for back-up plans.
In terms of offshore and domestic pricing, that has held steady in the past week. The most commonly reported spot price transaction range for
US domestic unfinished J55 ERW oil country
tubular goods (OCTG) casing is still at $59.00-$61.00 cwt. ($1,300-$1344/mt or $1,180-$1,220/nt), ex-Midwest mill, while futures prices for finished J55 ERW casing from second and third tier Korean and Taiwanese mills are still being quoted at approximately $42.50-$43.50 cwt. ($937-$959/mt or $850-$870/nt), DDP loaded truck
US Gulf coast ports. Korean-based Nexsteel, however, continues to quote about $4.00-$5.00 cwt. ($88-$110/mt or $80-$100/nt) higher.