Purchasing activity in the seamless pipe market in Saudi Arabia has remained limited due to the summer season without any perceptible buying from traders and the consuming industry. Most foreign suppliers of seamless pipes have reduced their offers for Saudi buyers under pressure from low demand. Ukrainian suppliers have cut their seamless pipe offers for Saudi Arabia by around $50/mt over the past month, while quotations of Japanese pipes have decreased by $40-50/mt during the same period. Import offers of Chinese materials have stayed mostly unchanged. Market insiders do not expect an improvement in the demand levels for seamless steel pipes before the October-November period.
Most offers of Chinese seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM are being given to the Saudi Arabian market at $540-560/mt CFR.
Quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L to Saudi Arabia are at $800-840/mt CFR, while 8"-10" pipes are offered at around $830-870/mt CFR.
Offers of 2"-6" grade B seamless pipes made to ASTM A106 from East European suppliers are quoted at around $900-950/mt CFR Saudi Arabia.
Quotations from Japan for seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are at about $1,130-1,150/mt CFR Saudi Arabia.