With imports and US domestic standard pipe prices moving in seemingly opposite directions, import standard pipe offers to the US have become too close to US prices to attract much activity.
Traders tell SteelOrbis that convincing their US customers to book offshore has been ineffective in the last couple weeks. While there was some hope of import activity reigniting after recent increases in the US domestic market, this has proven not be the case, as US domestic mills continue to strike deals well below official asking prices. Electric resistance welded (ERW) black plain end (BPE) A53 Grade A standard pipe spot prices are still $48.00-$49.00 cwt. ($1,058-$1,080/mt or $960-$980/nt) ex-Midwest mill, as they were two weeks ago, remaining about $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) short of asking prices, and orders being placed as much as $1.00-$1.50 cwt. ($22-$33/mt or $20-$30/nt) under the spot range are not unheard of either.
As such, Korean ERW BPE A53 Grade A offer prices for the US in the range of $46.50-$47.50 cwt. ($1,025-$1,047/mt or $930-$950/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports--up $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) in the last two weeks--are far too high to be even considered by US buyers. Indian prices in the US have actually fallen $1.00 cwt. in the last two weeks to $46.00-$47.00 cwt. ($1,014-$1,036/mt or $920-$940/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, but the $2.00 cwt. spread between Indian and US domestic spot prices still isn't wide enough to jumpstart activity.
Slower activity over the last few months has already resulted in a decline in arriving standard pipe imports into the US--a trend that isn't likely to let up soon. US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data show 54,389 mt (license data) of standard pipe arriving in the US in September compared to 61,041 mt (preliminary census data) arriving in August. Canada was the US' main source of imported pipe with 17,757 mt, followed by Mexico (5,261 mt), India (5,075 mt) and the UAE (4,853 mt). As of October 11, standard pipe imports are only at 14,789 mt (license data) for the current month, with Canada (3,215 mt), Japan (2,364 mt) and the UAE (2,291 mt) the US' major sources of imported standard pipe so far.