The Chinese seamless pipe market is currently quiet due to the National Day holiday (October 1-7), while seamless pipe prices in China had entered a relatively stable trend before the holiday.
Impacted by weak global economic growth and especially by the European debt crisis, China's seamless pipe export activity remains slack. Despite an increase in round billet prices in China, most seamless pipe suppliers have refrained from raising prices as demand is not strong enough to justify price hikes.
The seamless pipe market in China may see short-term rises after the National Day Holiday on the back of higher raw material costs, though the price growth will be hard to sustain amid high output, tightening monetary policy and soft demand.
Chinese domestic prices of 2"-6" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 are varying at around RMB 4,500-4,700/mt ($710-742/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 5,500-5,650/mt ($868-892/mt) ex-works.
Current export offers of seamless pipes from Chinese manufacturers for 2"-8" Sch 40 grade B material according to ASTM A106/API 5L are on average at $780-880/mt FOB. Export quotations of 24" seamless pipes of S235JR grade as per EN10297-1 are at around $830-870/mt FOB.