During the week ending August 23, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have edged up slightly. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $540-560/mt FOB, increasing by $10/mt compared to August 16, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $560-570/mt FOB, October shipment, edging up by $10/mt compared to August 16.
|
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
|
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
565 |
+10 |
|
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
565 |
+10 |
|
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
640 |
0 |
|
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
550 |
+10 |
During the given week, welded pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have increased amid the stimulus measures issued by Chinese policymakers, for instance, cutting the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) by 10 basis points to 3.45 percent, while keeping its five-year LPR stable at 4.2 percent, with the latter cut not as strong as market players had been expecting. Market players think demand for steel pipes may improve in the near future. At the same time, iron ore futures prices have moved up continuously, bolstering steel pipe prices from the cost side. It is thought that steel pipe prices may edge up in the coming week.
As of August 23, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,937/mt ($547/mt), increasing by RMB 11/mt ($1.5/mt) or up by 0.3 percent since August 16.
$1 = RMB 7.1988