The Italian seamless pipe market has seen no tangible improvement over the past month. Demand in the domestic market is still sluggish as consuming industries are going deeper into the economic depression in Italy. Market players report slack demand for standard pipes in Europe and low shipments to the Middle East, though there is firm demand in North and South America.
Domestic and export prices of Italian seamless pipes have remained unchanged over the past month amid stagnant buying activity. Import offers of seamless pipes from Ukraine have also remained stable over the past month, while offers of Romanian material have decreased by a maximum of €10/mt ($13/mt) and quotations of Czech material have declined by €40-50/mt ($52-65/mt), while only prices of Chinese material have increased, by around €30/mt ($39/mt).
Market players believe domestic and export sales will generally remain at low levels in the coming month, though sales to oil and gas customers in the Middle East are expected to recover somewhat from their current slack levels.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 8"-10" size as per ASTM are at about €1,150-1,200/mt ($1,490-1,555/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 6"-10" Sch 40 size of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €1,150-1,200/mt ($1,490-1,555/mt) FCA or €1,180-1,240/mt ($1,529-1,607/mt) FOB for February production.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €750-870/mt ($972-1,128/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
December production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST or ASTM are offered to the Italian market at around €830-880/mt ($1,076-1,140/mt) CPT (13.8 percent AD duty not included).
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Roman) of 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM or as per EN are at about €1,020-1,050/mt ($1,322-1,361/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €980-1,000/mt ($1,270-1,296/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.296