Most US pipe imports have maintained activity levels since our last report two weeks ago, as prices range from neutral to slightly down.
There hasn't been much development throughout the energy and structural pipe sectors since the beginning of the month, as most products are expected to trend neutral to slightly down over the next few weeks, until the pipe market bottoms out, which most traders believe to be around the end of August.
Oil country tubular goods (OCTG) will most likely continue to consistently wear the hat of most active pipe product throughout the remainder of the year. US rig activity continues to provide a stable outlook for OCTG consumption. According to Baker Hughes, active US rigs increased another 4 last week to 1,571, representing a significant increase of 350 rigs since the first week of the year and a year-over-year increase of 655. Domestic offerings of API J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) OCTG casing continue to be found from about $60.00 cwt. to $62.00 cwt. ($1,323/mt to $1,367/mt or $1,200/nt to $1,240/nt) ex-mill on the lower end of possible transaction ranges. On the import side, the most competitive offers for the same product continue to be from offshore sources of Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey at approximately $50.00 cwt. to $52.00 cwt. ($1,102/mt to $1,146/mt or $1,000/nt to $1,040/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
Import offers on API X42 ERW line pipe are most competitively offered from Korean mills though, within the similar range as two weeks ago, at approximately $46.00 cwt. to $47.00 cwt. ($1,014/mt to $1,036/mt or $920/nt to $940/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Turkish offers for this product will be slightly higher and have less shipping availability. It is interesting to note that there is a lot of line pipe tonnage arriving to the US this month. According to the US department of commerce, 120,549 mt (license data) of line pipe has been exported to the US in July (as of July 13), compared to 103,168 mt for the entire month of June. India has shipped 55,772 mt of line pipe tonnage so far in July, compared to only 18,573 mt for the month of June.
In the structural standard pipe sector, offshore mills continue to try and drum up some business in perhaps the most stagnant pipe sector. Average offers for ERW black plain end (BPE) A53 Grade A standard pipe from Turkey and India have decreased approximately $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) since our last report may now be found from approximately $42.00 cwt. to $43.00 cwt. ($926/mt to $948/mt or $840/nt to $860/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Korean offers for this same product are slightly higher ranging around $43.00 cwt. to $44.00cwt. ($948/mt to $970/mt or $860/nt to $880/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. On the coated side, offers of ERW galvanized plain end (GPE) A53 Grade A standard pipe from India remain priced too high for most buyers to even entertain, at approximately $51.00 cwt. to $52.00 cwt. ($1,124/mt to $1,146/mt or $1,020/nt to $1,040/nt) duty-paid, FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports.