Following the European Commission’s (EC) decision to impose an out-of-quota tariff on steel imports, it seems that EU countries have not stepped up their welded pipe and hollow section imports as much as expected. For now, EU countries have imported 38,000 mt welded pipe (13 percent of the quota) and 69,000 mt of hollow sections (18 percent of the quota), while imports are expected to gain momentum in the coming period. In this context, European buyers’ welded pipe bookings from their domestic market are expected to continue at current volumes in the short term, though demand for domestic welded pipe in the region is likely to increase when quotas start to be exhausted.
As for prices, a Bulgarian steel producer’s offers for ERW pipes as per EN 10219 are at €610-650/meter ($696-754/meter) CPT. The Bulgarian welded pipe producer’s quotations to Hungary and Poland are at €620-630/meter ($719-731/meter) CPT, with other offers to the Czech Republic and Austria being at €630-640/meter ($731-742/meter) CPT, while its offers to Germany and Romania are at €640-650/meter ($742-754/meter) CPT and €610-620/meter ($696-719/meter) CPT respectively.
€1 = $1.16