The Italian welded pipe market has seen its difficult situation worsen considerably over the past month due to ongoing economic uncertainty, which keeps affecting buying activity. Italian welded pipe producers have been forced to cut their domestic and export offers due to sluggish buying activity and falling quotations of feedstock material. Domestic and export welded pipe prices in Italy have declined by around €10-25/mt ($42-58/mt) over the past month. Meanwhile, demand remains sluggish with buyers taking great care to avoid losses by buying material in small quantities, fearing that the economic situation could deteriorate further. Given sluggish business activity and the downward price trend in the global market, welded pipe offers in Italy may remain soft in the coming month.
Current local prices for Italian welded pipes of 2"-6" size with wall thickness of 2.0-4.0 mm as per EN 10219 made of base steel grade S235JR HR coils are at about €450-465/mt ($484-500/mt) ex-works. Prices are shown on actual weight basis and excluding 22 percent VAT. Domestic prices for standard-size precision welded tubes E235 grade as per EN 10305-3 are at about €550-560/mt ($591-602/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian 2"-6" welded pipes as per EN 10219 are at about €490-500/mt ($527-538/mt) FOB or €460-470/mt ($495-505/mt) ex-works.
€1 = $1.08