During the week ending March 29, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have moved sideways. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $630-660/mt FOB, remaining stable compared to March 22, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $640-670/mt FOB, May shipment, moving sideways compared to that on March 22.
|
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
|
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
655 |
- |
|
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
665 |
- |
|
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
735 |
- |
|
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
645 |
- |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved sideways amid the negative impact from financial crisis in US. Meanwhile, demand for steel pipe has been slack due to the pollution against the dust and sand in northern China, resulting in quiet activities. There were production controlling measures being implemented in northern China, which provided certain support to steel pipe market. It is expected that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of March 29, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,271/mt ($621/mt), decreasing by RMB 15/mt ($2.2/mt) or moving down by 0.35 percent since March 22.
$1 = RMB 6.8771