During the week ending March 26, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have moved sideways. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $470-480/mt FOB, moving sideways compared to March 19, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $500-510/mt FOB, for June shipment, remaining stable compared to March 19.
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
505 |
- |
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
505 |
- |
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
670 |
- |
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
475 |
- |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have remained stable as demand has not improved as much as market players had expected. Cautious sentiments have prevailed among market players, while the gradual consumption of inventories of steel pipes has provided some support for steel pipe prices. Demand has been gradually improving, which will exert a positive impact on the steel pipe market. It is thought that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic may fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of March 26, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,386/mt ($472/mt), increasing by RMB 38/mt ($5.3/mt) or 1.1 percent since March 19, while up 0.12 percent compared to the previous trading day, March 25.
$1 = RMB 7.1754