Buyer activity in the Iranian seamless pipe market is still rather weak. Domestic mills' prices have dropped by $100-130/mt in the last four weeks. Stockists' prices for Iranian production seamless pipes have slipped by $20-90/mt over the same period. Meanwhile, foreign suppliers of seamless pipes are trying to change the price trend and are increasing their offer prices. Thus, over the past month quotations of Chinese seamless pipes have increased by $40/mt, Ukrainian quotations are up by $10-30/mt, with Russian offers rising by $5-10mt. These increased prices are aimed at testing the Iranian market as Iran recovers from the unrest which followed its presidential elections. However, the future prospects for this market are expected to be revealed more fully in October.
Current domestic quotations of Iranian production seamless pipes 1"-4" grade B made to API 5L are at $1,020-1,100/mt ex-works, depending on diameter and wall thickness. The prices exclude three percent VAT. Iranian production 1"-4" seamless pipes of grade Х52 made to API 5L are currently offered to the domestic market at on average $1,120-1,200/mt ex-works.
Offers ex-warehouse of local production 1 ½"-3" seamless pipes of grade B as per API 5L are being given at an average of $1,120-1,140/mt.
Import offers of Chinese seamless pipes 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM A106/API 5L are being given to the local Iranian market at $760-780/mt C&F Bandar Abbas.
Russian pipes of up to 8", grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L, are being offered to northern Iranian ports at about $760-780/mt C&F Anzali.
Quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size, grade B as per ASTM A106/API 5L, are at $800-820/mt C&F Bandar Abbas, with quotations of 8"-12" size at $860-900/mt C&F Bandar Abbas.