Pressure from the international community over Iran's nuclear program and the complicated domestic political and economic situation continue to weigh on demand for seamless pipes in Iran. Domestic prices of locally produced seamless pipes have decreased by $50-100/mt over the past month. Offers of seamless pipes from Ukraine and Russia have remained unchanged, while quotations of Chinese material have increased by a minimum of $40/mt.Meanwhile, imports remain rather problematic. The situation in the Iranian seamless pipe market is not going to improve soon but will remain unfavorable in the coming period.
Current domestic prices of Iranian production seamless pipes 1"-4" grade B made to API 5L are at $1,000-1,050/mt ex-works. 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 $1,100-1,200/mt ex-works.
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 $950-1,000/mt CFR Bandar Abbas.
Quotations of Ukrainian seamless pipes of 2"-8" size grade B as per ASTM A106 are at about $1,140-1,200/mt CFR Bandar Abbas for November-December production.
Russian pipes of 6"-8" grade B as per ASTM A106 are being offered to northern Iranian ports at $1,100-1,150/mt CFR from Tagmet, while 2"-3" pipes are quoted at around $1,300-1,350/mt CFR from Sinarsky Pipe Plant for delivery in December-January.