During the week ending February 4, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have remained stable. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $480-490/mt FOB, moving sideways on average compared to January 28, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $490-500/mt FOB, for March shipment, remaining unchanged on average compared to January 28.
| Product name | Quality | Spec. | Price ($/mt) FOB | Weekly change ($/mt) |
| API 5L seamless pipe | Gr.B | 2’’-6’’ Std | 495 | - |
| Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) | J55 | 3’’-8’’ Std | 495 | - |
| Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) | ST37 | < 3’’ Std | 650 | - |
| Welded pipes | Gr.B | 2’’-6’’ Std | 485 | - |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved sideways as workers have started to leave for the Chinese New Year holiday (February 14-23), resulting in the slack demand from downstream users. HRC futures prices have edged down slightly, exerting a negative impact on the steel pipe market. Traders have basically completed their stock replenishments and so transaction activities may be quiet in the near future. It is expected that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market will continue to move sideways in the coming week.
As of February 4, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,274/mt ($470/mt), decreasing by RMB 6/mt ($0.9/mt) or 0.18 percent since January 28, while increasing by 0.18 percent compared to the previous trading day, February 3.
$1 = RMB 6.9533