Prices of flat products in Italy have been declining, although not at a rapid rate, while customers are being extremely conservative and careful about new bookings. As per market information, during recent days quite a few lots of distressed flat products have been offered in Italy and Spain, mainly from Ukraine, but customers are quite reluctant to book since they are expecting prices to go down further. On the other hand, domestic producers of flats in the Italian market are keeping their prices quite high. However, at the same time the weakness of the euro against the US dollar has made domestic and import offers of welded pipes even more expensive than before.
Domestic and export prices of welded pipes in Italy have increased by €30/mt in the past month. Turkish welded pipe offers for Italy have gone up by €90-110/mt, Indian suppliers have raised their offers for Italy by €5-10/mt, while prices of Bulgarian welded pipes have risen by €90-110/mt, all over the past month.
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 €650-680/mt ex-works (here and below on actual weight basis and excluding 20 percent VAT). Pickled pipes of sizes up to 6" from Italian producers are being offered to the domestic market at around €700/mt ex-works, with galvanized pipes at about €850/mt ex-works. Domestic prices for standard-size precision welded tubes E235 grade as per EN 10305-3 are at about €810/mt ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian 2"-6" welded pipes as per EN 10219 are at about €680-710/mt FOB (transportation by sea) or €650-680/mt ex-works (transportation overland). In particular, offer prices for Spain are in ranges of €700-740/mt C&F or €680-710/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 €680-720/mt C&F to Italy and €690-730/mt C&F to Spain. The prices of Turkish welded pipes with 1.5 mm wall thickness made from CR coils are at about €760-800/mt C&F to the Italian market and at €770-810/mt C&F to the Spanish market.
Quotations of Indian black welded pipes of 1"-6" size as per BS 1387 or DIN 2440/2444 or EN 10255 to the Italian market are at the level of €770-790/mt C&F. Offers of Bulgarian welded pipes to the Spanish market are standing at an average of €730-780/mt CPT.
For 2010 it is expected that from the first quarter onwards the tube sector in Italy will see a moderate recovery which should gradually gain strength over the year. With the exception of the construction sector, almost all end-user sectors of welded steel tubes will experience a mild rebound in activity from the low levels reached in 2009. Equally important is the fact that steel tubes inventories in the distribution chain and at the end-user level have been reduced to levels which probably will require replenishment on a relatively short term, depending on the actual speed of recovery in industrial activity.