China's welded pipe market has mostly moved sideways over the past two weeks amid sluggish demand before the Chinese New Year holiday. Chinese producers have left their domestic and export prices unchanged over the period under review, while traders have cut their offers by RMB 20-50/mt ($3-8/mt). The Chinese welded pipe market is expected to remain quiet in the short run due to the Lunar New Year holiday which starts on January 31. Business activity in the market and prices may start to recover only in March. However, an oversupplied domestic market, fierce overseas competition and high costs will continue to impact Chinese welded pipe 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 4,000-4,200/mt ($655-688/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 3,550-3,650/mt ($582-598/mt) ex-warehouse, while stockists in the cities of Tianjin and Beijing are offering similar pipes at RMB 3,370-3,450/mt ($552-565/mt) ex-warehouse.
Current export prices of welded pipes from large Chinese mills, 2"-10" grade B according to ASTM A53, are at around $620-650/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
$1 = RMB 6.1