During the week ending March 22, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have moved down. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $630-660/mt FOB, decreasing by $30/mt compared to March 15, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $640-670/mt FOB, May shipment, decreasing by $25/mt compared to that on March 15.
|
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
|
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
655 |
-25 |
|
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
665 |
-25 |
|
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
735 |
-30 |
|
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
645 |
-30 |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved down amid the poor transaction activities. HRC futures prices have seen an overall downtrend since last Wednesday, exerting a negative impact on steel pipe market. At the same time, the decreasing trend in iron ore prices also weakened the support to steel pipe market. Currently, market players mostly held the wait-and-see stance towards the prospect for the future steel pipe market. It is expected that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market will move on a fluctuating trend in the coming week.
Rebar futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) stand at RMB 4,153/mt ($604.5/mt) on March 22, down by RMB 179/mt ($26.1/mt), or 4.1 percent compared to March 15, while down by 0.84 percent compared to the previous trading day, March 21.
$1 = RMB 6.8715