The Italian seamless pipe market is still facing feeble demand from consuming industries in line with the slowdown in the European economy. Export sales of line pipes to the Middle East and the Far East and sales of industrial pipes to Europe have also weakened. Meanwhile, Italian suppliers have maintained their prices for standard seamless pipes unchanged in euro terms over the past month, but in dollar terms prices have decreased by $55-58/mt due to the weakness of the euro. Prices of Ukrainian material have increased by €10-20/mt ($13-26/mt), but due to currency fluctuations offers in dollar terms have decreased by $13-27/mt over the past month. During the period under review, quotations of Chinese seamless pipes have decreased by a maximum of €40/mt ($52/mt), while Romanian and Czech producers have cut their offer prices by €20-50/mt ($26-65/mt). Seamless pipe suppliers hope to see a gradual demand revival in Italy in the second quarter due to the anticipated seasonal improvement. However, the situation in the consuming industries in Italy and Europe remains unfavorable amid the lack of investment projects in the region.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 8"-10" size as per ASTM are at about €1,100-1,150/mt ($1,430-1,495/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 6"-10" Sch 40 of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €1,100-1,150/mt ($1,430-1,495/mt) FCA or €1,130-1,180/mt ($1,470-1,535/mt) FOB for May-June production.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €730-800/mt ($950-1,040/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
March-April production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST or ASTM are offered to the Italian market at around €770-830/mt ($1,000-1,080/mt) CPT (12.3-13.8 percent AD duty not included).
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Roman) of 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM or as per EN are at about €970-1,000/mt ($1,260-1,300/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €950-980/mt ($1,235-1,275/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.3