During the week ending December 20, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have edged up. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $580-600/mt FOB, remaining stable compared to December 13, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $590-610/mt FOB, February shipment, moving sideways compared to that on December 13.
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
600 |
0 |
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
600 |
0 |
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
690 |
0 |
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
590 |
0 |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved sideways amid the limited supply to the spot market due to rainy and snowy weather affecting transportation. The extremely cold weather will continue in the coming days, which will negatively affect the demand for steel pipe. Meanwhile, relatively high levels of raw materials prices, including coke and iron ore prices provided solid support to steel pipe prices. At the same time, on December 18, 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit Gansu province of China, exerting a negative impact on market sentiments, especially in northwestern China. It is expected that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market may fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of December 20, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,058/mt ($570/mt), remaining stable since December 13, while which saw a rise of 0.69 percent compared to the previous trading day (December 19).
$1 = RMB 7.0966
