The Chinese seamless pipe market has maintained a weak trend and transaction activity has not shown any improvement after the May Day holiday. Some Chinese seamless pipe producers have cut their domestic offers by a maximum of RMB 50/mt ($5/mt) over the past two weeks amid poor demand in the market. Export quotations have decreased by $10-20/mt over the same period as demand from foreign customers remains slack due to the unfavorable global economic situation and trade restrictions. Most market players have started to adopt a wait-and-see stance, and the poor transaction volume has led to a rather pessimistic market outlook for May. Market participants believe the present high inventories and uncertain demand are likely to result in a further downtrend in the market in May.
Chinese domestic prices of 2"-6" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 are varying at around RMB 5,300-5,400/mt ($840-855/mt) ex-works, including 17 percent VAT. Domestic prices of seamless pipes, 2"-8" grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L, are at around RMB 6,300-6,400/mt ($995-1,015/mt) ex-works.
Current export offers of seamless pipes from most Chinese manufacturers for 2"-6" Sch 40 grade B material according to ASTM A106/ASTM A53/API 5L are on average at $850-940/mt FOB, while offers from bigger mills may reach $1,000/mt FOB. Export offers of 16"-24" seamless pipes grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around $1,030-1,080/mt FOB.
Export quotations for 13 3/8" casing, J55 as per API 5CT, BTC, are at $1,020-1,050/mt FOB, while 2 7/8"-3 1/2" tubing, plain ends, are at around $1,080-1,100/mt FOB.