Chinese welded pipe producers raised their domestic prices before leaving the market for the National Day holiday (October 1-7) driven by rising costs rather than by booming demand.
Chinese welded pipe export prices have also risen further following a rise in the domestic market. Accordingly, Chinese welded pipe producers have increased their domestic prices by RMB 500/mt ($80/mt) over the past two weeks, while their export offers have moved up by $50-60/mt. Although demand from foreign customers is still sluggish, market players report some interest from the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, most market participants are not optimistic on the prospects for the market trend after the holidays, as downstream demand has remained sluggish in China and as overseas demand is still feeble.
Current offers of locally produced welded pipes, 2"-6" Q215-Q235 grade, are being given to the Chinese domestic market at an average of RMB 3,700-4,000/mt ($584-632/mt) ex-works, while 2"-6" welded pipes of grade B as per ASTM A53 are at RMB 4,000-4,200/mt ($632-663/mt) ex-works. These local market welded pipe prices include 17 percent VAT.
Current export prices of welded pipes from large mills, 2"-10" grade B according to ASTM A53/API 5L, are varying at around $680-750/mt FOB on actual weight basis.