The Italian seamless pipe market has continued to face pressure from lack of demand amid financial uncertainty in the region. Domestic and export prices of Italian seamless pipes have remained stable over the past month against a background of minimal purchase activity. Prices of Romanian material have decreased by a maximum of €20/mt ($27/mt), while offers of seamless pipes from Ukraine have decreased by €10-30/mt ($13-40/mt) over the past month. At the same time, import offers of Chinese and Czech material have remained stable.
Demand for standard seamless pipes from both local and foreign buyers is expected to remain low during the first quarter amid the weak economic backdrop, while sales to oil and gas customers in the Middle East are expected to recover as drilling activity in the global market should increase gradually, led by the growth in exploration and development of deepwater and unconventional reserves.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 8"-10" size as per ASTM are at about €1,100-1,150/mt ($1,474-1,541/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 ($1,474-1,541/mt) FCA or €1,130-1,180/mt ($1,514-1,581/mt) FOB for March production.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €700-850/mt ($938-1,139/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
February production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST or ASTM are offered to the Italian market at around €770-850/mt ($1,032-1,139/mt) CPT (12.3-13.8 percent AD duty not included).
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Roman) of 3"-12" grade B made to ASTM or as per EN are at about €1,000-1,050/mt ($1,340-1,407/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €980-1,000/mt ($1,313-1,340/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.34