With high buyer inventories and plenty of J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) oil country tubular goods (OCTG) casing available, US prices continue to come under pressure. Substantial volumes of unsold import OCTG casing is still struggling to find a home, according to US buyers, who told SteelOrbis that traders have been cutting prices due to such intense competition. US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data show that 315,226 mt (license data) of OCTG arrived in May, following 271,926 mt (census data) in April and another 210,768 mt (license data) this month as of June 19. With so much pipe arriving at a time when market demand remains in a lull, traders and mills alike are finding themselves cutting prices in order to be competitive.
Current import offer prices from Korea and Taiwan are still within the previously reported range of $48.00-$50.00 cwt. ($1,058-$1,102/mt or $960-$1,000/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, although most offers are now leaning toward the lower end. In the US domestic market, market sources indicated that while most mills haven't dropped spot prices much, or at all, due to consistent demand from drilling projects, mills more exposed to the spot market and with availability in rolling schedules have been more inclined to drop prices by $2.00-$3.00 wt. ($44-$66/mt or $40-$60/nt) below the general spot range of $65.00-$66.00 cwt. ($1,433-$1,455/mt or $1,300-$1,320/nt) ex-Midwest mill to be more competitive with imports.