It is observed that buyers in the local European welded pipe market have been cautious during the past week and have postponed their purchases due to the approaching new year and holiday season. Another factor contributing to the slowdown in producers’ welded pipe sales is reported to be the high inventory levels of buyers caused by the weakness of end-user demand, which has caused buyers to not order new shipments. SteelOrbis has been informed that some buyers have even asked for postponements of shipments of previous orders.
Under these circumstances, sales of welded pipe producers have remained slower than expected, causing producers to reduce their prices slightly amid the pressure exerted by buyers. As a result, a Bulgarian steel producer has reduced its offers for ERW pipes as per EN 10219 by €10/meter week on week to €580-585/mt ($655-661/meter) ex-works, though the producer in question is unwilling to meet buyers’ lower price expectations for now.
The Bulgarian welded pipe producer’s quotations to Germany are at €615-620/meter ($695-701/meter) CPT, to Hungary are at €595-600/meter ($672-678/meter) CPT, to Austria are at €605-610/meter ($684-689/meter) CPT, to Romania are at €585-590/meter ($661-672/meter) CPT, and to Belgium and the Netherlands are at €635-645/meter ($718-729/meter) CPT, while its offers to the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia and Slovakia are standing at €620-630/mt ($701-712/mt) CPT and its offers to Slovenia are at €625-635/mt ($706-718/mt) CPT.
Additionally, according to the European Commission’s (EC) import quota rates, 60 percent and 78 percent of the quotas for import welded pipe and hollow profiles have been filled, respectively, with the quotas now closer to being used up. Import volumes of welded pipe and hollow profiles are Europe is expected to fall to very low levels within a few weeks.