Chinese welded pipe suppliers have started to raise their prices on the back of rising raw material and feedstock costs. Over the past two weeks, Chinese mills' domestic seamless pipe quotations have increased by around RMB 100/mt ($18-19/mt), while offers of Chinese traders to the local market have moved up by RMB 30-60/mt ($6-11/mt). Export prices of Chinese welded pipes have gone up by about $10/mt over the past two weeks. However, there are still no signs of a demand rebound in the domestic and export markets as buyers consider that the current increase lacks support and may be short-lived.
Most market players think that Chinese pipe producers may attempt some price increases in the near future citing ongoing increases in flat steel quotations from some suppliers. Meanwhile, any further upward movement in welded pipe prices is expected to be limited amid slowing economic growth both at home and abroad, insufficient demand, market oversupply, and lean seasonal consumption in the summer.
Current offers of locally produced 2"-6" welded pipes of grade B as per ASTM A53 are being given to the Chinese domestic market at an average of RMB 4,200-4,300/mt ($680-696/mt) ex-works. These local market welded pipe prices include 17 percent VAT. Traders in Shanghai are offering Q215-Q235 welded pipes made to GB/T3091 at around RMB 3,660-3,780/mt ($592-612/mt) ex-warehouse, while stockists in the cities of Tianjin and Beijing are offering similar pipes at RMB 3,530-3,620/mt ($571-586/mt) ex-warehouse.
Current export prices of welded pipes from large Chinese mills, 2"-10" Sch 40 grade B according to ASTM A53, have stayed at around $630-660/mt FOB on actual weight basis.