The Polish welded pipe market is still sluggish amid a lack of new investment projects and ongoing tepid demand from end-users. However, domestic prices for locally produced welded pipes have moved up in Poland by around €10/mt ($13/mt) over the past month on the back of firm feedstock quotations and the weakening of the euro against the dollar. Meanwhile, Bulgarian and Italian welded pipe suppliers have cut their offers by a maximum of €20/mt ($26/mt) over the period in question in order to attract Polish customers. Market players believe that Polish pipe producers will find it difficult to keep prices at current levels amid deteriorating market conditions, and so prices may weaken in the coming period.
Current domestic quotations of locally produced 3/8"-6" water and gas ERW pipes of 2.6-4.5 mm wall thickness made to EN 10255 are at €700-750/mt ($916-981/mt) delivered, exclusive of 23 percent VAT. Offers of square and rectangular hollow sections with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from S235 JRH grade hot rolled coil (HRC) according to EN 10219 are in the range of €590-610/mt ($772-798/mt) ex-works.
Quotations of Italian black welded pipes of 2"-6" size with wall thickness of 2.0-4.0 mm as per EN 10219 made from S235JR grade HRC to the Polish market are at the level of €600-630/mt ($785-824/mt) CPT on actual weight basis.
Offers of Bulgarian ERW pipes and hollow sections of 2-5 mm wall thickness made from S235JR grade HRC as per EN 10219 to Polish customers are standing at an average of €550-580/mt ($719-759/mt) CPT on theoretical weight basis.
€1 = $1.308