The Italian market for welded pipes is continuing to struggle due to weak fundamentals. Domestic demand from end-users remains sluggish amid low investments in construction projects. Given poor buying sentiment in the domestic market, Italian suppliers have sought to switch fully to exports. Meanwhile, foreign buyers remain cautious. Over the past month, Italian suppliers of welded pipes left both their domestic and export offers almost unchanged. At the same time, Turkish suppliers have reduced their offers by a maximum of €10/mt ($18/mt). Both domestic and export demand is likely to weaken further in advance of the summer slowdown, and prices for Italian welded pipes may come down in the short term.
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 from base steel grade S235JR HR coils are at about €650-670/mt ($847-873/mt) ex-works. Prices are shown on actual weight basis and excluding 21 percent VAT. Domestic prices for standard-size precision welded tubes of E235 grade as per EN 10305-3 are at about €750-760/mt ($977-990/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian 2"-6" welded pipes as per EN 10219 are at about €680-700/mt ($886-912/mt) FOB (transportation by sea) or €650-670/mt ($847-873/mt) ex-works (transportation overland). In particular, offer prices for Spain are in the range of €680-700/mt ($886-912/mt) CPT.
Offers from Turkish suppliers of industrial welded pipes with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from HR coils are being given at an average of €610-650/mt ($795-847/mt) CFR to Italy and at €630-670/mt ($820-873/mt) CFR to Spain.
Offers of Bulgarian welded pipes to the Spanish market are standing at an average of €635-660/mt ($827-860/mt) CPT on theoretical weight basis.
€1 = $ 1.302