During the past week China's seamless pipe market has followed a stable trend, while some large-scale seamless pipe producers have lowered their ex-works prices, and so market prices of seamless pipes in China may soften in the coming period. On the other hand, domestic welded pipe prices have risen slightly in the past week.
Please click to see Chinese steel pipe prices on April 28.
Traders wait and see in Chinese seamless pipe market
In the past week, seamless pipe prices in eastern China have been generally stable. Although billet prices have increased by RMB 50-70/mt ($7-10/mt), traders are still waiting to see the reaction from pipe producers. Meanwhile, in the southern region of China, traders are maintaining a wait-and-see stance due to the high prices in the upstream market and the weak demand in the downstream market. In northern China, affected by the sluggish market demand, most quotations from seamless pipe traders indicate stability, while the traders are cautious about concluding new purchases.
Low transaction volume in China's welded pipe market
During the past week, in eastern China welded pipe production costs have continued to climb up on the back of increasing strip prices. However, due to the weak demand in the downstream market, producers' inventories have been increasing. Activity in the welded pipe market in northern China is inhibited by high price levels, purchases from downstream users are slow, and some traders are not active in adding to their inventory. As a result, producers' inventories are on the rise.