After the seven-day National Day holidays in China, welded pipe prices have remained on a weak trend due to slack buying activity and gloomy sentiment. Welded pipe suppliers in China have cut their domestic offers by around RMB 10-50/mt ($2-8/mt) in the past two weeks, while export quotations of Chinese welded pipes have remained unchanged over the period under review. Market insiders agree that welded pipe prices in China may move downwards in the coming period in view of a seasonal drop in consumers' buying activity and extremely slack demand abroad, lower feedstock costs and oversupplied market.
Current offers of locally produced 2"-6" welded pipes of grade B as per ASTM A53 are being given to the Chinese domestic market at an average of RMB 4,200-4,300/mt ($689-705/mt) ex-works. These local market welded pipe prices include 17 percent VAT. Traders in Shanghai are offering Q215-Q235 welded pipes made to GB/T3091 at around RMB 3,620-3,880/mt ($593-636/mt) ex-warehouse, while stockists in the cities of Tianjin and Beijing are offering similar pipes at RMB 3,580-3,670/mt ($587-602/mt) ex-warehouse.
Current export prices of welded pipes from large Chinese mills, 2"-10" grade B according to ASTM A53, are at around $630-680/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
$1 = RMB 6.099