The seamless pipe market in Saudi Arabia continues to be firm and domestic quotations of locally produced seamless pipes have increased by a maximum of $30/mt over the past month. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in the spotlight for mega infrastructure projects. The country is investing heavily to the tune of SAR 1,496 billion to upgrade its infrastructure over the five-year period up to 2013. Saudi Arabia is placing top priority on infrastructure development across sectors such as power, transportation, education, retail, real estate and oil and gas, among others.
In the import segment, suppliers are pursuing different policies. Chinese suppliers have reduced their seamless pipe prices for Saudi Arabia by $40-90/mt over the past month. Ukrainian and Russian suppliers have maintained their seamless pipe offers for Saudi Arabia at the previous levels. Import offers of seamless pipes from Europe, in particular from Romania and the Czech Republic, have increased by $45-50/mt during the past month due to the weakness of the dollar against the euro. At the same time, quotations of Japanese material have moved down by $50/mt over the period under review. Market players expect prices to fluctuate during the coming few months due to uncertainty in the international market. Most traders predict that import seamless pipe prices will decline during the coming month.
Market traders report that local manufacturer Jubail Energy Services Company (JESCO) is offering seamless pipes 6"-10" of grade B made to API 5L to the domestic market at around $1,030-1,050/mt ex-works.
Offers of Chinese seamless pipes 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are being given to the Saudi Arabian market at $900-950/mt C&F.
Quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes (Interpipe) 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at $1,080-1,100/mt C&F. Russian seamless pipes 2"-10" grade B as per ASTM A106 are being offered to the Saudi market at $1,100-1,150/mt C&F.
Quotations of 3"-10" seamless pipes from Romania (ArcelorMittal) grade B as per API 5L are at about $1,280-1,300/mt C&F.
Import offers of seamless pipes from the Czech Republic (ArcelorMittal) 3"-6" of grade B made to API 5L are being given to the local market of Saudi Arabia at $1,375-1,400/mt C&F.
Quotations of seamless pipes to Saudi Arabia from Japan (Sumitomo) for 8"-12" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at $1,400-1,450/mt C&F.