The import market for future offers of unfinished J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) oil country tubular goods (OCTG) to the US may be trending quiet, but that’s not to say that the market for recently arrived OCTG casing has completely fallen off. At the current time, the current sales price for on-the-ground unfinished OCTG casing from Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam has firmed by approximately $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) since the end of last month. The current range from all three countries is between $44.00-$45.00 cwt. ($970-992/mt or $880-$900/nt), with deals on the lower end of that range being most readily available for those interested in booking larger orders. In terms of new import offerings from alternate sources not under the shadow of an AD suit, trader sources say they have received several offers from Western European countries, but ranges are simply too high to garner any real consideration.
Meanwhile, spot prices for US domestic finished J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) oil country tubular goods (OCTG) casing have also remained neutral in the past week and are still being transacted between $58.00-$61.00 cwt. ($1,279-$1,344/mt or $1,160-$1,220/nt) ex-Midwest mill, depending on the size of the order. Industry insiders say demand is steady but lacking excitement, and that for the most part, there is a lot of inventory on the ground. For now, Texas service center and distributors are holding off on making larger buys and are working to trim stock in order to avoid being slapped with a hefty Year-End Inventory Tax, a pattern that is expected to sustain through the end of 2013.