Demand improvement fails to materialize in UAE seamless pipe market

Hopes for a demand improvement in the Emirati seamless pipe market have been disappointed. Most foreign suppliers have lowered their seamless pipes offers due to ongoing slack demand and high stocks. Quotations of Chinese seamless pipes for Emirati buyers have declined by around $30-40/mt over the past month. Import offers of Romanian and South African pipes for the UAE have gone down by a maximum of $20/mt over the past month, while quotations of Argentinian pipes have moved down by around $50/mt. Prices of Ukrainian material have increased by $10-20/mt during the given period, while Japanese and German suppliers have not revised their seamless pipe offers for the UAE over the past month. Traders believe buying activity in the UAE is unlikely to increase significantly in the coming period as with the start of Ramadan at the end of June consuming activity will slow down even further.
 
Most offers of seamless pipes of 2"-8" grade B made to ASTM/API from most Chinese mills are being given to the local UAE market at $710-740/mt CFR.
 
Quotations of Ukrainian (Interpipe) seamless pipes, 2"-6" Sch 40 grade B made to ASTM/API, are at $1,030-1,050/mt CFR, while 8"-10" pipes are at $1,045-1,070/mt CFR.
 
Seamless pipes from Romania (ArcelorMittal) of 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM are quoted at about $1,370-1,400/mt CFR.
 
South African (ArcelorMittal) seamless pipes, 3"-6" grade B made to ASTM/API, are being quoted to the UAE in the range of $1,000-1,030/mt CFR.
 
Offers of seamless pipes from Argentina, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM/API from Tenaris, are being given to the UAE at $1,450-1,500/mt CFR.
 
Quotations from France and Germany (V&M) and from Japan (NSSMC) for seamless pipes of 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM/API are at about $1,400-1,450/mt CFR.