During the week ending December 7, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have mostly edged up. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $590-600/mt FOB, rising by $10/mt compared to November 30, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $600-630/mt FOB, February shipment, up by $10/mt compared to that on November 30.
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
615 |
+10 |
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
625 |
+10 |
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
700 |
0 |
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
595 |
+10 |
During the given week, steel pipe prices have mostly moved up amid the good news from the government, including the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and the cancellation of wide-scale testing, which exerted a positive impact on market sentiment. However, the cold weather in winter has negatively affected the demand from downstream users, weakening construction activity. Some steel pipe producers in northern China have halted production, reducing supply and bolstering the market to some extent. It is expected that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market may move sideways in the coming week.
Rebar futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) stand at RMB 3,782/mt ($540/mt) on December 7, up by RMB 34/mt ($4.9/mt), or 0.91 percent compared to November 30, while down by 0.55 percent compared to the previous trading day, December 6.
$1 = RMB 6.9975
