Demand yet to pick up in Chinese seamless pipe market after holiday

The seamless pipe market in China has remained quiet as trading has yet to resume after the Chinese New Year break. However, some pipe producers have made an attempt to raise their offers, anticipating that buying activity will soon increase. Thus, Chinese seamless pipe mills have increased their domestic prices by around RMB 50-100/mt ($8-16/mt) over the past three weeks despite the ongoing sluggishness of demand in the market. At the same time, traders' seamless pipe prices in the domestic market have remained almost unchanged over the past three weeks due to the seasonally low demand.China's export seamless pipe prices have also remained relatively stable over the same period amid quiet activity on the export side. Market players remain pessimistic on the outlook for the market in the remainder of the first quarter of the current year. The domestic seamless pipe market is unlikely to see a significant turnaround in the coming period, though demand in the domestic seamless pipe market may see some improvement amid the increasing number of starts on construction sites in the spring. However, the seamless pipe industry in China will likely remain under downward pressure in general, due to oversupply and lukewarm demand at home and abroad.
 
Domestic prices of seamless pipes, 2"-8" grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L, are at around RMB 6,100-6,300/mt ($1,006-1,039/mt) ex-works, including 17 percent VAT. Chinese domestic prices of 2"-6" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 are varying at around RMB 5,000-5,300/mt ($824-874/mt) ex-works. Chinese ex-stock prices for 2"-8" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 in Shanghai are at around RMB 4,050-4,200/mt ($668-693/mt) ex-warehouse, including 17 percent VAT.
 
Current export quotations from most Chinese manufacturers for 2"-12" grade B seamless pipes according to ASTM A106/API 5L are on average at $730-780/mt FOB, while offers from big producers have remained at levels of $850-880/mt FOB.
 
Export prices for 7"-9 5/8" casing pipes of J55 strength grade, as per API 5CT, plain ends, are at about $850-900/mt FOB, while 2 7/8"-3 1/2" tubing, plain ends, are at around $900-950/mt FOB.