China's seamless pipe market has continued to suffer from oversupply, liquidity problems and low domestic demand from the construction, infrastructure and industrial sectors over the past two weeks. Although demand from the Middle East has improved after the end of Ramadan, no deals have been heard yet, and Chinese exporters have continued to cut their quotations for seamless pipes amid the acute supply-demand imbalance. Over the past two weeks, domestic prices of Chinese seamless pipes have decreased by a maximum of RMB 100/mt ($15-20/mt), while export quotations have declined by a maximum of $15-30/mt. Market players think that the weak trend of seamless pipe prices may persist until the end of this year.
Chinese domestic prices of 2"-6" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 are varying at around RMB 4,500-4,700/mt ($710-740/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 5,400-5,600/mt ($850-885/mt) ex-works.
Current export offers of seamless pipes from most Chinese manufacturers for 2"-8" Sch 40 grade B material according to ASTM A106 are on average at $745-800/mt FOB, while bigger producers are offering the same pipes at about $800-870/mt FOB.