Overall slack activity in local Chinese steel pipe market

The local Chinese steel pipe market has mostly moved on a stable trend in terms of seamless pipe prices in the past week, while welded pipe prices have softened slightly. 

As of June 18, in China's three main steel markets, i.e., Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing, the average price of 20# (GB/T8162-1999) grade 108 mm x 4.5 mm seamless pipe now stands at $535/mt, with 20# (GB/T8163-1999) grade 219 mm x 6 mm seamless pipe at $551/mt. Meanwhile, on the same date, Q195-215 grade 48 mm x 3.25 mm welded pipe and Q215-235 grade 114 mm x 3.75 mm welded pipe prices in the above markets are standing at $409/mt and $413/mt respectively. All the above prices include 17 percent VAT.

Chinese domestic seamless pipe prices have mostly moved sideways with some slight decreases also seen during the past week. Overall trading activity is sluggish, and this has been the main reason for the downticks mentioned. Meanwhile, billet prices have been moving on a stable trend. As for the coming week, the market trend is expected to be mostly stable, again with some minor declines in prices also.
 
The local Chinese domestic welded pipe market has moved on a slight downtrend in the past seven days. With the arrival of the offseason for business, demand from construction projects for welded pipes has declined and overall trading activity is slack. Most traders are keeping their inventories at low levels. The downtrend in the local welded pipe market is expected to continue in the coming week.

$1 = RMB 6.21