The Chinese welded pipe market has halted its soft trend. Given the gradual demand revival and higher production costs, domestic quotations of welded pipes in China have increased by a maximum of RMB 50/mt ($10/mt) over the past two weeks, while export quotations of Chinese welded pipes have stayed at the previous levels. Market players believe that the welded pipe market in China is likely to pick up as infrastructure projects come on stream gradually in early April. Welded pipe offers from Chinese producers are expected to trend upwards in the coming period on the basis of the forecast demand rebound in all markets and rising raw material prices.
Current offers of locally produced 2"-6" welded pipes of grade B as per ASTM A53 are being given to the Chinese domestic market at an average of RMB 4,300-4,450/mt ($687-710/mt) ex-works. These local market welded pipe prices include 17 percent VAT. Traders in Shanghai are offering Q215-Q235 welded pipes made to GB/T3091 at around RMB 3,900-4,000/mt ($623-639/mt) ex-warehouse, while stockists in the cities of Tianjin and Beijing are offering similar pipes at RMB 3,730-3,870/mt ($596-618/mt) ex-warehouse.
Current export prices of welded pipes from large Chinese mills, 2"-10" grade B according to ASTM A53, have stayed at around $680-720/mt FOB on actual weight basis.