Chinese seamless pipe prices continue to go up slightly

Seamless pipe makers in China have been forced to lift their quotations over the past two weeks amid rising prices for round billets. Meanwhile, market players still face a lack of demand from both local and foreign customers. Currently, locally produced round billets are being offered to the Chinese market at around RMB 5,250-5,300/mt ($800-810/mt), up by RMB 100-150/mt ($20-15/mt) over the past two weeks. As a result, over the period under review, domestic quotations of Chinese seamless pipes made to ASTM A106/API 5L have increased by a maximum of RMB 100/mt ($15/mt, currency fluctuations taken into account), while domestic prices of pipes made to GB/8163 have gone up by a maximum of $10/mt). Export offers of Chinese seamless pipes have gone up by a maximum of $20/mt over the period under review.
 
Market insiders expect seamless pipe prices from Chinese producers will continue to move up slightly in the coming period on the back of the coming high season for consumption and growing inflation, as well as the expected rallying of international demand. Firm upstream round billet prices will not let seamless pipe quotations drop down either.
 
Chinese domestic prices of 2"-8" seamless pipes according to GB/8163 are varying at around RMB 5,850-5,900/mt ($895-900/mt) ex-works, including 17 percent VAT. Domestic prices of seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L, are at around RMB 6,500-7,000/mt ($995-1,070/mt) ex-works.
 
According to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in March this year China produced 2.14 million mt of seamless pipes, more than February's 1.76 million mt and marking an increase of 8.8 percent year on year. Total production for the first three months of this year was 6.023 million mt, up 17.5 percent over the same period last year.
 
Current export offers of seamless pipes from Chinese manufacturers for 1"-8" grade B material according to ASTM A106/ASTM A53 are on average at $1,000-1,050/mt FOB. Export quotations for 2"-4" tubing J55 as per API 5CT, plain ends, are in the range of $1,200-1,250/mt FOB, while quotations for 6"-8" casing are at $1,100-1,150/mt FOB.