Over the past two weeks, Chinese seamless pipe offers for both local and foreign customers have been stable amid steady round billet prices and weak demand. Current round billet prices in China are at around RMB 5,400-5,420/mt ($830-835/mt) ex-works with 17 percent VAT. Chinese seamless pipe makers expect to keep their prices at the current levels in the coming weeks. Lack of demand prevents any seamless pipe price increases, while high round billet quotations keep seamless pipe prices firm. However, by the end of May seamless pipe quotations may start to move up slowly due to tight supplies of semi-finished products and China's power restriction policy.
Chinese domestic prices of 2"-8" seamless pipes according to GB/8163 are varying at around RMB 5,900-6,000/mt ($910-920/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 6,600-7,000/mt ($1,010-1,075/mt) ex-works.
According to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in April this year China produced 2.174 million mt of seamless pipes, more than March's 2.14 million mt and marking an increase of 8.6 percent year on year. Total production for the first four months of this year was 8.065 million mt, up 13.7 percent over the same period last year.
Current export offers of seamless pipes from Chinese manufacturers for 2"-8" grade B material according to ASTM A106/ASTM A53 are on average at $900-1,000/mt FOB, while seamless pipes made to API 5L are quoted at $1,000-1,100/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.