Cautious mood in Italian seamless pipe market

Business activity in the Italian seamless pipe market has remained at low levels. Meanwhile, some Italian suppliers have attempted to raise their pipe quotations by €20-50/mt ($23-57/mt) over the past month hoping demand from overseas markets will recover, but they are still ready to make concessions to buyers as demand is still very slow. Meanwhile, market participants remain cautious since market conditions are characterized by uncertainty due to the weakness of the European economies and falling raw material costs.
 
Current domestic prices for Italian hot rolled seamless tubes for mechanical applications, of 2"-6" size of E355 grade as per EN 10297, are at about €800-820/mt ($912-935/mt) ex-works, while quotations of seamless pipes of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at levels of €1,000-1,070/mt ($1,140-1,220/mt) ex-works.
 
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" Sch 40 of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €1,050-1,100/mt ($1,197-1,254/mt) FOB.
 
€1 = $1.14