Seamless pipe prices in Italy have continued to drop over the past month. This reflects weakness on the demand side, while prospects for the coming months are not bright especially as buying activity may weaken further in the winter period. Seamless pipe prices in Italy have been forced to go down in euro terms in order to stay competitive against cheaper import offers quoted in US dollars. Domestic and export quotations of Italian seamless pipes have decreased by €30-50/mt during the past month. Over the same period offers of Chinese material have moved down by €40-80/mt. Prices of Ukrainian seamless pipes for Italy have fallen by €20-30/mt in the past month. Import quotations of seamless pipes from Romania and the Czech Republic have stayed at the previous levels. Market traders are holding back from new purchases in order to finish the year with minimal stocks. Real consumption is growing slightly, but a lot of consumers do not have sufficient funds of their own to purchase large tonnages and it is hard to obtain credit in the current situation. Demand for seamless pipe products in the region will remain low at least until the end of the year. The price level will depend greatly on the euro exchange rate. Reductions in price have not been followed by growth in demand and even directly cause buyers to maintain a waiting strategy.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L are at about €920-970/mt ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L are at €950-1,000/mt FOB, excluding the trader's margin.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at about €660-700/mt C&F Italy, exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties (in the range of 17.7-39.2 percent depending on the producer).
December production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes ex-Interpipe grade B as per ASTM A106 are offered to the Italian market at around €740-770/mt DDU (25.1 percent AD duty is not included in this price range).
Offer prices of seamless pipes up to 6" of grade B as per API 5L from Belarus SW (BMZ) are at the level of €930-950/mt DDU.
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Romania) 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at about €880-890/mt CPT, while 12"-14" pipes are at €900-915/mt CPT.
Czech seamless pipes, made to ASTM A106/API 5L, grade B, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €930-950/mt CPT for 2"-10" size.