During the week ending November 29, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have continued their uptrend. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $570-590/mt FOB, increasing by $15/mt compared to November 22, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $580-600/mt FOB, January shipment, increasing by $10/mt compared to that on November 22.
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
590 |
+10 |
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
590 |
+10 |
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
690 |
0 |
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
580 |
+15 |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have edged up amid increasing raw material prices. After several government departments requested that the relevant enterprises in the iron ore market should operate in accordance with the law, and not disseminate information about iron ore price hikes, iron ore prices have been negatively affected. For instance, iron ore futures prices decreased by 2.61 percent on November 28 and declined by 0.47 percent on November 29, which will exert a negative impact on market sentiment. A round of cold weather is expected to hit China, which will weaken the demand for steel pipes and drag down prices. It is thought that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge down in the coming week.
As of November 29, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,006/mt ($564/mt), decreasing by RMB 53/mt ($8.3/mt) or down by 1.3 percent since November 22.
$1 = RMB 7.1031
