Chinese welded pipe prices have continued their downward trend amid extremely poor demand and falling feedstock prices in the domestic market. Chinese welded pipe producers have decreased their domestic prices by RMB 200/mt ($31-32/mt) over the past two weeks, while export offers have gone down by $10-50/mt. According to the China Steel Pipe Association (CSPA), China's steel pipe industry is unlikely to see improvement in the second half of this year due to oversupply, slowing growth in domestic demand and the increasingly uncertain export environment.
Current offers of locally produced welded pipes, 2"-6" Q215-Q235 grade, are being given to the Chinese domestic market at an average of RMB 3,500-3,700/mt ($553-585/mt) ex-works, while 2"-6" welded pipes of grade B as per ASTM A53 are at RMB 4,300-4,500/mt ($680-711/mt) ex-works. These local market welded pipe prices include 17 percent VAT.
Current export prices of welded pipes from large mills, 2"-10" grade B according to ASTM A53, are varying at around $670-720/mt FOB on actual weight basis, while export offers of smaller mills are standing at $600-650/mt FOB. Export quotations of 1/2"-6" hot dip galvanized pipes are at around $690-810/mt FOB.