Demand recovery still awaited in local Chinese steel pipe market

Trading activity in China's domestic steel pipe market has remained sluggish in the past week, while seamless pipe prices have remained stable, with welded pipe prices indicating slight upticks.
 
As of February 20, in China's three main steel markets, i.e., Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing, the average price of 20# (GB/T8162-1999) grade 108 mm x 4.5 mm seamless pipe now stands at $688/mt, with 20# (GB/T8163-1999) grade 219 mm x 6 mm seamless pipe at $726/mt. Meanwhile, on the same date, Q195-215 grade 48 mm x 3.25 mm welded pipe and Q215-235 grade 114 mm x 3.75 mm welded pipe prices in the above markets are standing at $583/mt and $591/mt respectively. All the above prices include 17 percent VAT.
 
China's domestic seamless pipe market has moved on a sideways trend during the past week, while the trading volume has been quite low. Bad weather has limited the number of construction starts and so demand is fairly sluggish. In the meantime, the slight softness of billet prices has not influenced the seamless pipe market as traders are still selling materials purchased before the Chinese New Year holiday. It is believed that the local Chinese seamless pipe market will continue its stable trend in the coming week.
 
The domestic welded pipe market in China has witnessed some slight upticks in prices in the past seven days. Although trading activity has still not returned to normal after the holiday and while the downstream side has not yet fully resumed operations, traders have decided to raise their prices slightly in order to see how the market reacts. However, there is a lack of confidence regarding the likelihood of acceptance of the increased prices. It is believed that, if the trading volume remains low, traders may readjust their prices in a downward direction in the coming week.